Category: Free Essays

Today tourism is one of the largest and most dynamic sectors, of the economy. It is growing at a fast pace, leading to infrastructure development, considerable, volume of foreign currency inflows, and good job opportunities. So it affects various sectors of the economy, contributing to the social and economic development of the country

as a whole. According to recent statistics, tourism provides about 10 per cent of the world’s income and employs almost one tenth of the world’s workforce. All considered, tourism’s actual and potential economic impact is astounding.

The hospitality industry came into existence in order to accommodate tourists.

When guests stay in a hotel and use the various services and facilities provided by the hotel, they seldom think about the complexity of hotel operations. The smallest of their demands, like for a cup of tea, requires coordination among a series of people. The hotel industry is a people-oriented industry. It is the effectiveness, efficiency, and courteous behaviour of the hotel employees that make a lasting impression on the guest’s total experience.

The front office department of a hotel is the hub of guest activities. This department looks after the guests’ needs-right from the booking of rooms to receiving and registering guests, to assigning rooms, to handling guests’ mails and messages, to presenting bills and settling guests’ accounts at the time of check-out. It is important for the front office staff to provide excellent and flawless services to guests, as it goes a long way in creating an indelible image of the hotel.

FRONT OFFICE GM AT WORK AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

Most general managers depend on the performance of an outstanding front office to help them meet their guest service and profitability goals. The front office and its manager(s) are responsible for, a variety of important hotel functions.

Because the rooms sold by a hotel are extremely perishable (an unsold room on a certain day is an eternal and unchangeable circumstance), it is very important that hotels do the best job possible in matching guest room availability with guest room demand. Also, since it is not possible to change the number of rooms available to sell up or down on a daily basis due to the constructed fixed number of rooms, an important responsibility of the front office is the sale of rooms at a rate that management feels will maximize revenue per available room. A well-managed and talented front office will do this well.

The making of guest reservations is often the first thing that comes to mind when considering the major functions of a front office, and this is indeed an important and often complex aspect of the front office`s role. In addition to reservations, however, it falls upon the front office to actually assign arriving guests to specific guest rooms and respond to their special needs during their stay. These needs can include anything from transportation and information to medical assistance. In all of these situations and more, the unwavering role of the front office is to make the guest’s stay as comfortable and as welcoming as possible.

An essential aspect of the front office is its responsibility for collecting the revenue charged to guests for their rooms, restaurant meals, telephone calls, and a host of other hotel services. This means that the front office manager, working with the G.M. and controller, must devise and administer revenue management systems that ensure guests are properly charged for the services they use and that the hotel fully collects all monies it has earned.

When forecasting room demand, accommodating guests, and collecting monies for services rendered, the front office generates a large quantity of data, much of which are critical for management decision making. It is the role of the front office to collect, sort, and present these data in a way that assists in management decision making. As a G.M. my daily tasks can be made much easier by the support of an effective front office.

OVERVIEW OF THE FRONT OFFICE

The front office sometimes referred to as the front desk, the front office usually controls much more than the activities occurring at the front desk. In a small, limited service hotel, the front office may consist, physically of only that area reserved for guest registration. In a larger property the front office may include several staff members, each responsible for a portion of the office`s management or operation.

Regardless of its size, the front office must be organized to manage its key tasks and areas of responsibility.

TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY GROWTH + economicaly

Tourism and hospitality, which are inextricably linked to each other, are among

the major revenue-earning enterprises in the world. They happen to be among

the top employers too. There has been an up market trend in tourism over the

last few decades as travel has become quite common. People travel for business, vacation, pleasure, adventure, or even medical treatment. The present-day tourist, who has higher levels of disposable income, international exposure, and refined tastes, wants specialized versions of products and services, such as quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays, or commercial hotels. This has led to a demand for better quality products and services, mainly regarding accommodation and travelling, thus feeding the growth of the hospitality industry as a whole.

The developments in technology and transport infrastructure, such as jumbo jets, low-cost airlines, and more accessible airports have made tourism affordable and convenient. There have also been changes in lifestyle-for example, now retiree-age people sustain tourism round the year. The sales of tourism products on the Internet, besides the aggressive marketing of tour operators and travel agencies, have also contributed to the growth of tourism.

With several business-related activities associated with tourism, the industry

has a tremendous potential of generating employment as well as earning foreign exchange. There are many countries in the world, such as Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, and Caribbean, whose economies are primarily driven by tourism. Tourism can contribute to the economic growth of a country in the following ways:

Employment generation: It creates a large number of jobs among direct service

providers (such as, hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, tour operators, guide and tour escorts, etc.) and among indirect service providers (such as, suppliers to hotels and restaurants, supplementary accommodation, etc.).

Infrastructure development: Tourism spurs infrastructure development. In order

to become an important commercial or pleasure destination, any location

would require all the necessary infrastructure, like good connectivity via rail,

road, and air transport, adequate accommodation, restaurants, a well-developed telecommunication network, and medical facilities, among others.

Foreign exchange: The people who travel to other countries spend a large amount of money on accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, etc. Thus, an inbound tourist is an important source of foreign exchange for any country.

HOTELS DEFINITION AND CORE AREAS

The term hotel was used for the first time by the fifth Duke of Devonshire to name a lodging property in London sometime in AD 1760. The word hotel is derived from the French hA?tel, which refers to a French version of townhouse. Historically in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and several other countries, a townhouse was the residence of a peer or an aristocrat in the capital or major cities.

A hotel or an inn is defined by the British Law as a ‘place where a bonafide

traveller can receive food and shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it

and is in a fit condition to be received’. Hence, a hotel must provide food (and

beverage) and lodging to a traveller on payment, but the hotel has the right to

refuse if the traveller is not presentable (either drunk, or disorderly, or unkempt)

or is not in a position to pay for the services. Alternatively, a hotel may be defined as ‘an establishment whose primary business is to provide lodging facilities to a genuine traveller along with food, beverage, and sometimes recreational facilities too on chargeable basis’. Though there are other establishments such as hospitals, college hostels, prisons, and sanatoriums, which offer accommodation, they do not qualify as hotels since they do not cater to the specific needs of a traveller.

A hotel is thus an establishment that provides paid accommodation, generally

for a short duration of stay. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest

services, such as restaurants, bar, swimming pool, healthcare, retail shops;

business facilities like conference halls, banquet halls, board rooms; and space for private parties like birthdays, marriages, kitty parties, etc. Most of the modem

hotels nowadays provide the basic facilities in a room-a bed, a cupboard, a small table, weather control (air conditioner or heater), and bathroom-along with other features like a telephone with STD/ISD facility, a television set with cable channel, and broadband/Wi-Fi Internet connectivity. There might also be a mini-bar containing snacks and drinks (the consumption of the same is added to the guest’s bill), and tea and coffee making unit having an electric kettle, cups, spoons, and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer.

Areas of a Hotel: An Overview

The organization of a hotel today is very complex and comprises various

departments. The number of departments varies from one establishment to another. All departments may have their own managers, reporting to the general manager and the assistant general manager.

The front office is where my principal research were held during this task:

This department is headed by the front office manager, the front office department is the operational department that is responsible for welcoming and registering guests, allocating rooms, and helping guests check out. Uniformed services like concierge and bell desk, and EPBAX operators are part of the front office department.

-Hotels are commercial establishment that provide accommodation, meals and other guest services. In general, to be called a hotel, an establishment must have a minimum of six guestsaa‚¬a„? rooms, at least three of which must have attached private bathroom facilities.

Although hotels are classified into `star` categories, there is no standard method of assigning these ratings, and compliance with customary requirements is voluntary. An American hotel with certain rating, for example, may look very different from a European or Asian hotel with the same rating, and would provide a different level of amenities, range of facilities, and quality of service. Although hotel chains assure uniform standards throughout, non-chain hotels (even within the same country) may not agree on the same standards.

In the travel and tourism industry, the hotel industry plays a very significant role, as all tourists need a place to stay at their destinations, and require many more services and facilities to suit their specific needs and tastes.

FUNCTIONS (FRONT OFFICE)

Front office is the first department of the hotel with which guests come in contact at the time of their arrival and also the last department they interact with when they depart from the hotel. This department performs various functions like reservation, reception, registration, room assignment, and settlement of bills of a resident guest.

This chapter is aimed at providing an understanding of the organization of the

front office department. Here, we will study the various sections of the front office

and their functions, the organization of the front office staff, and the qualities,

attributes, duties and responsibilities of front office personnel.

FUNCTION AREAS

The front office personnel are mostly in direct contact with guests throughout

their stay. Guests contact the front desk to book a room; check-in; inquire about

hotel services, facilities, and about the city or surrounding areas; and finally, to

settle bills and check out from the hotel. Apart from these services, the front desk also provides services like handling guest mails and messages, maintaining guest accounts, paging guests (locating guests within the hotel), arranging travel services, and various other services as per the guest’s requirement.

The front office is the contact point between the guest, management, and other

departments. It handles guests’ complaints, dispatches housekeeping and engineering requests, prints and files reports, receives and answers phone calls, and sends and receives faxes. Thus, the front office personnel perform the following functions:

Sell hotel rooms to guests, which may be standard or deluxe rooms, executive or presidential suites, etc.

Accept advance booking of hotel rooms through telephone, fax, e-mail,

websites, etc.

Receive and register guests when they arrive at the hotel and assign them rooms according to their preferences-smoking/non-smoking, pool view/ garden view/sea view, high floor/low floor, near the elevator/far from the elevator, etc.

Maintain accurate room status information.

Maintain guest accounts and monitor credit.

Handle guests’ demands and complaints.

Prepare account statements of guests.

Settle bills at the time of check-out.

Coordinate guest services like handling of guest mails and messages, locating guests within the hotel premises, connecting guest telephone calls, keeping guests’ valuables in safety deposit lockers, handling of room keys, making sundry payments on behalf of guests, and so on.

Provide information about the hotel’s facilities and services, the city, important events, festivals and shows, and places of tourist interest.

FRONT OFFICE LAYOUT

-For the efficient and smooth functioning of a department, it is important to divide it in sections and delegate tasks accordingly.

-The front office department is divided in sections:

*Reservation / Reception / Information desk / Cash and bills / travel desk / Communication / Uniformed services (which include bell desk and concierge)

-A well designed layout should involve proper space utilization, aimed at improving the efficiency and control of the staff. The front desk should be located at a prominent place in the lobby for example.

-the hotel lobby is an area furnished with seating arrangements just inside the hotel, where hotel guests and their visitors can meet and wait.

-located just beyond the entrance to the hotel, the lobby is the first and last point of guest contact with the hotel.

-A well-appointed lobby creates an impression about the overall standard of the hotel in the eyes of the guests.

RESERVATION

While planning business or pleasure trips, people like to ensure that they will have a safe and comfortable accommodation at their respective destinations. This can be achieved by booking a room of their choice in advance.

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The reservation section of the front office department of a hotel is responsible

for receiving and processing reservation queries. Depending upon the level of

automation, volume of business, and house customs, the procedure of processing reservation queries may differ from hotel to hotel in terms of reservations handling, maintenance of reservation records, confirmation, amendment, and cancellation of reservations. This section is headed by a reservation manager, who is assisted by a reservation supervisor and a team of reservation clerks or assistants.

Layout of the Reservation Section

The location of the reservation section depends upon the size of hotel and the volume of business of the hotel. In a very small hotel, the function of reservations can be performed by the front desk. In a large hotel, a separate section is needed, which should preferably be located behind the reception counter and should have a communication door between the reception and reservation sections.

Functions of the Reservation Section

The following functions are performed by the reservation section:

-Receiving reservation requests through various means like telephone, fax,

e-mail, websites, sales representatives, or central reservations department.

-Processing reservation requests received from all means on the hotel property

management system (PMS).

-Depending upon the availability of desired room type and projected sales during and around the requested stay dates, the reservation, waitlisted, or denied.

-Updating the room availability status after each reservation transaction, i.e., after each confirmation, amendment and cancellation.

-Maintaining and updating reservation records to reflect accurate information about room status.

-Preparing reservation reports for the management.

RECEPTION

This section of the front office receives and welcomes guests on their arrival in the hotel. It is headed by a supervisor and comprises a team of receptionists and front desk assistants. The personnel of this section procure all the necessary information about the guest to complete the registration process. After finishing the registration formalities, a room is assigned to the guest, and a bell boy carries the luggage and escorts the guest to her room. The entire process is carried out professionally in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Layout of the Reception Section

The reception section is located in close proximity to the entrance of the hotel. The layout of the section depends upon the size of the hotel and the volume of business generated by it. The front desk assistant carries out many tasks like receiving guests, registration, etc.; hence, the reception area should be designed in such a way to assist the staff in performing their tasks efficiently and effectively. The front desk may be circular, L-shaped, curved, or straight depending upon the requirement.

Functions of Reception

The following functions are performed by the reception section of hotel:

-Receiving and welcoming guests.

-Completing the registration formalities.

-Assigning the room.

-Sending arrival notification slips to the concerned departments.

INFORMATION DESK

As the name suggests, the information desk provides information to guests. It is

manned by an information assistant. In a small hotel, the same function may be

performed by the receptionist. The need of a separate information desk is felt in

large hotels where the traffic of guests is higher. The information desk may be

located next to the reception.

Functions of Information Desk

Some of the functions of the information desk are as under:

-Maintaining resident guest rack.

-Handling guest room keys.

-Coordinating guest mails, telegrams, faxes, couriers, parcels, etc.

-Providing information to guests regarding hotel facilities and services, city

information, etc.

-Handling guests messages.

-Paging guests.

CASH AND BILLS

The cash and bills section records all the monetary transactions of guests. It maintains guest folios and prepares the guest bills to be settled by the guest at the time of departure. This section is headed by a cashier.

Functions of the Cash and Bills Section

This section performs the following tasks:

-Opening and maintaining of guest folios.

-Posting room charges in guest folios.

-Recording all credit charges in guest folios.

-Maintaining a record of the cash received from guests.

-Preparing bills at the time of check-out.

-Receiving cash/travellers cheques/demand draft for account settlement.

-Handling credit! debit! charge cards for the settlement of a guest account.

-Organizing foreign currency exchange for the settlement of a guest account.

Travel Desk

The travel desk takes care of travel arrangements of guests, like air-ticketing,

railway reservations, sightseeing tours, airport or railway station pick up or drop,

etc. The hotel may operate the travel desk or it may be outsourced to an external travel agency.

Functions of Travel desk

The travel desk performs the following tasks:

-Arranging pick-up and drop services for guests at the time of their arrival

and departure.

-Providing vehicles on request to guests at pre-determined rates (charged

kilometre/hour wise and depend on the kind and size of vehicle used-

premium cars, semi-luxury cars, coaches, mini vans, etc.)

-Making travel arrangements like railway reservations/ cancellations/

amendments, or purchasing air-tickets for guests.

-Organizing half-day or full-day sightseeing tours in and around the city.

-Arranging for guides who can communicate in the guest’s language.

COMMUNICATION SECTION

The communication section maintains the communication network of the hotel,

which is generally quite complex. The hotel may have its own private branch

exchange (PBX), along with post and telegraph lines. Earlier all outgoing calls

were routed through the telephone operator. This was done to ensure proper

accounting of outgoing calls. Switchboard operators were required to place wake- up calls, monitor automated systems, and coordinate emergency communications.

Recent technological advancement in telecommunications has revolutionized the way hotels operations are run. Now guests are able to make outgoing calls without routing them through the operator. There is a computerized call accounting system that charges the outgoing calls to the guest’s account. Wake-up calls may also be registered on the system, which dials the guest’s extension at the pre-registered time and plays a pre-recorded message when answered. So hotels can now manage with lesser number of telephone operators per shift. The telephone operators, who answer incoming calls, protect the guests’ privacy and contribute to the hotel’s security programme by not revealing guest room numbers to any unauthorized person. Many hotels also provide guest paging services over the public address system. These systems generally operate through the communications section.

Functions of Communication Desk

The duties of the telephone operator include:

-Answering incoming calls.

-Directing calls to guest rooms through the switchboard/PABX system.

-Providing information on guest services.

-Processing guest wake-up calls.

-Answering inquiries about hotel facilities and events.

-Protecting guests’ privacy.

-Coordinating emergency communication.

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UNIFORMED SERVICES

The uniformed services in the hotel include the bell desk team and the concierge.

Bell Desk

The bell desk is located very close to the main entrance of the hotel. This section is headed by a bell captain, who leads a team of bell boys (also called bellhops) and page boys. They handle the guest luggage from the guest vehicle to the lobby and to guest rooms at the time of arrival and from their rooms to the guest vehicle at the time of departure. They escort guests to their rooms and familiarize them with hotel facilities, safety features, as well as in-room facilities.

The bell desk person is the last front desk employee who comes in contact with guests at the time of their departure.

Functions of bell desk

The bell desk is responsible for the following tasks:

-Handling guest luggage at the time of arrival and departure

-Escorting guests to their rooms on arrival.

-Familiarizing guests about safety features and in-room facilities.

-Providing information to guests about hotel facilities and services when asked.

-Locating a guest in a specified area of the hotel.

-Posting guest mails.

-Making sundry purchases like postage stamps, medicine etc. for the guest.

-Keeping guest luggage in the left luggage room if requested by the guest. aa‚¬”

-Checking if in-room amenities are in their original condition at the time of departure of guests.

CONCIERGE

A concierge is a hotel employee who provides information and personalized services to guests like dinner reservations, tour and travel arrangements,

and obtaining tickets for special events in the city, etc. A concierge is often expected to achieve the impossible, dealing with any request a guest may have, relying on an extensive list of personal contacts with various local merchants and service providers. The concept of concierges came from the days of European royalty; the concierge was the castle doorkeeper in those times. His duty was to ensure that all castle occupants were safe in their rooms at night. When the royal families travelled, they often took their concierges with them for security and for making food and lodging arrangements. As the hotel industry grew, concierges became a part of the hotel staff to provide personalized services to hotel guests.

Functions of concierge

The concierge provides the following services to guests:

-Making reservations for dining in famous restaurants.

-Obtaining tickets for theatres, musicals, sporting events, etc.

-Arranging for transportation by limousine, car, coaches, buses, airplanes,

or trains.

-Providing information on cultural and social events like photo exhibitions, art

shows, and local places of tourist interest.

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GUEST CYCLE

The guests of a hotel have four main stages interaction with the hotel aa‚¬” at pre-arrival / arrival / stay / departure. All guests go through the same procedure as they proceed from reservation to arrival and allotment of rooms, to their stay in the hotel, to the settlement of their bills and departure from the hotel, these various stages of activities constitute the guest cycle.

PRE-ARRIVAL

The interaction between a guest and a hotel before the guest arrives at the hotel forms the pre-arrival phase of the guest cycle. Reservation is the most important pre-arrival activity. During this phase, the guest first selects a hotel for stay.

The guest’s choice about a particular hotel is affected by factors. Like advertisements, recommendations from family and friends, previous experience with the hotel, reputation, location, contractual agreement with the hotel, etc. Once a hotel has been chosen, the guest or a person designated by him (who could be his secretary or spouse or a travel agent) contacts the selected hotel through telephone, e- mail, or fax for reserving a room for the period of his proposed stay.

The reservation request is received by the reservation staff, whose efficiency and

competence in handling the request creates a good first impression of the hotel in

the mind of the guest.

Before confirming a reservation, the hotel may ask for a credit card guarantee

or an advance deposit from the guest. In case of high occupancy periods, guests

are requested to pay retention charges. This is to ensure minimum loss to the hotel

in case of any last moment cancellations or no shows. Once the retention charges

have been paid, the room is reserved or ‘blocked’ for the guest for the required

stay dates. The hotel also makes note of any special arrangements to be made, like a wheelchair and a barrier free room; airport or railway station transfers; an extra bed or crib in the room; etc.

Thus the functions of the front office in the pre-arrival phase include:

Processing the reservation request of the guest.

Creation of guest folio (in case the hotel has received any advance payment).

Blocking the room for the guest.

Making special arrangements for the guest (if required).

The data collected during the process of reservation can be utilized in future front

office and sales activities. A well-managed reservation system can maximize the

room sales and revenue by constantly monitoring the room status and forecasting

the room revenue.

ARRIVAL

Guests have their first face-to-face interaction with the hotel staff on their arrival at

the hotel. This is a very critical stage as guests form an opinion about the standards

and services that the hotel can provide to them. During this phase, guests are greeted by the front desk staff and the registration process begins. The guests are asked to verify the details printed in the registration card – these details are generated from the information received in the pre-arrival stage.

The registration activity is an agreement between the hotel and the guest, whereby the hotel offers the accommodation product and services to the guest, and the guest agrees to pay for the services received. A hotel might pre-register guests (i.e., register guests before their arrival) like VIPs, groups, airline crews, and frequent guests.

Once the guests have been registered with the hotel, they are assigned a room at the negotiated room rate. The guest is then shown to their room and their luggage is brought to the room by the bell desk. If any mails or messages have arrived at the

hotel before the arrival of the guest, they are given to her.

Thus the functions of the front office on the arrival of a guest include:

-Reception and welcome of the guest

-Registration of the guest

-Room rate and room assignment to the guest.

-Handing over the room key to the guest.

-Luggage handling of the guest by bell desk.

-Delivering the mails and messages that the hotel has received on behalf of

the guest.

The front office staff maintains lists of expected arrivals and departures on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. They keep updating these lists, along with the arrival and departure details, and keep the other departments informed of any changes in the schedule of guests. This is very essential to provide a flawless service to guests and to avoid embarrassing situations like not arranging for the pick-up of a guest, or not having the room ready in time and making the guest wait for it.

STAY

During this stage the guest gets a first-hand experience of the facilities and services

offered by the hotel. These services and facilities are the most important part of a guest’s overall experience at a hotel. An excellent level of services would lead to the satisfaction of the guest, which would make him, come back to the hotel and give positive feedback to other potential customers.

The front office is the interface between the guest and the other departments of the hotel, so it must coordinate well

Tourism Theories and Practices

“What do tourists do and why?” Critically discuss

Tourism industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing industry and largest employers in the modern world. This sheer vastness of the industry is understood from the fact that the numbers of tourists worldwide are anticipated to be doubled to one billion plus by the end of 2010.(Kamra, p 184)

This essay will discuss in brief the different theories of tourism which define tourist behavior, their roles, activities and motivations which in turn influence the industry.

Thesis statement: Tourists and their thought process, their behavior and motivations are centrifugal to the concept of tourism. Many scholars have tried to define the typology of the tourists, their classifications in order to understand the concept of tourism.

The essay will outline some of the old theories and the modern day approach and why there is a need for more research based studies to exploit the potential of this industry.

Meaning of tourism-What is tourism

Michel Eyquem De Montaigne said, “A man should ever be ready booted to take his journey.”

Man because of his gregarious nature is bound to travel from one place to another to fulfill his various needs be it social, emotional or physical. Traveling is thus characteristic to human society on the whole.

Travel and tourism was traditionally considered as a luxury item. But with the turn of the century, definition of travel and tourism has evolved. Tourism no longer stands for simple traveling or temporary journeys and stays mainly for pleasure, leisure and or recreational purposes or a luxury element. Twentieth century ushered in the paradigm shift in the concept of tourism. In fact it will not be unjustified to say that there has been transition from the 19th and early 20th century concept of tourism as an exercise in leisure and pleasure domain to the concept of tourism as an exercise in business, economics. It is more of a consumer product; tourism industry is a vibrant market where tourism products can be sold now as any other consumer product, consumer here is the tourist. (Kamra, p 157)

According to statistics brought out by the statistics of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in 1994, tourism contributed 12 per cent of the world’s Gross National Product. (Kamra, 12)

Tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industry employing hundreds of millions of people worldwide, which explains the reason why the study of the tourism and tourism research has become so important in not only the academic field but also for the economy on the whole.

Modern day tourism is much more than simple traveling; it is pure economics, which is determined by theories of demand, and supply, which brings in the question of sustainability. Tourism is no more synonymous to traveling.

Today tourism is just like a normal consumer product, which is driven by market dynamics, demand supply, sold through retail outlets. It no longer remains a luxury of the upper class but has become a mass product for the growing consumer market, in this case the growing tourist community. (Swarbrooke and Horner – p 4)

In fact there has been a combination of factors which have resulted in the proliferation of tourism industry. The prime being increased leisure, higher incomes of burgeoning middle class. One of the main drivers to growth in the coming era would be the growing middle class.

The study of tourism theories and practices therefore would mainly revolve around the needs, motivations, role, experiences of the the tourists. What do tourists do and why?

The most general classification of tourists is on the basis of the needs of the tourist. This would mainly classify the entire tourist community into two groups-the traveler and the tourist.

While the former is mainly conceived as one who would basically travel to understand the place and thus would rather prefer longer trips and would plan it individually. The latter classified, as a tourist in layman’s version would be characterized as one with superficial interest. One who would indulge in shorter trips and group tours or charters and would mainly depend on tour agents. But this classification is very vague.

Motivations

Most of the tourists travel for change of environment because of which new concepts of tourism like eco-tourism, rural tourism have come into existence. Cultural attractions, education, gaining knowledge about new cultures might be other important motivations. For example attraction towards Buddhist culture has made Myanmar and some parts of North East India a major hub for Buddhist tourists from all around the world. People from all around the world travel to these places to get experience the Buddhist spirit. There can be other motivations also like quest for new experience, personal visits etc.

Some of the most prevalent theories of destination development and classification of tourists

Some scholars have tried to classify the tourist on the basis of their needs, which explains the reason for their travel. For example a tourist can be classified as explorer, elite, offbeat, unusual, mass or charter on the basis of his/her demand.

While an explorer tourist group will want discovery, adventure, exploration, a elite tourist might have a special personally customized tailored trip to any exotic places. Or for example an offbeat tourist might travel to get away from the crowds.

The classification according to demand describes the main purpose of travel. There can be a pure mass group also under the demand-based classification where the tourist might prefer normal tour packages and holiday trips to conventional places.

Thus classification on the basis of demand to a large extent determines the needs and the activities of the tourists.

There can also be classification on the basis of the meaning and requirement, where tourists might travel for the sake of simple recreation, diversion, experiential, experimental reasons. There can be also motivational based classification. Understanding the motive behind traveling might help to predict consumer psyche.

An American researcher named Plog (Mason 26) put forth his theory based on the psychology of tourists and these were published in 1973. Plog’s theory was based on a case study conducted on New York residents and their attitudes to travel.

Plog’s discussed the tourist behavior and motivations based on the psychology of the tourists. Thus there are two types of tourists, the allo-centric and psycho-centric types of tourist. He argued that there are particular psychological types who do not like unfamiliar environments or cultures, so when they select a holiday they will seek the familiar regions than unfamiliar remote regions (these he termed psycho-centric).

Plog further added that there are still some groups in society who will be prepared to risk a far more uncertain holiday destination. These tourists will search for strange or unfamiliar and these he termed allo-centric.

While the psycho-centric would not travel far from the local environment the allo-centric would travel long distances to unfamiliar locations. He concluded that the majority of the tourists were neither fully psycho- centric nor fully allo-centric.

Rather most of the tourists were located in the center point between the two extremes of psycho-centric and allo-centric.And that majority of the tourists would seek the familiar and prefer not to travel great distances to get there.

An important point that emerged from the destination development of Plog’s theory is that different tourists destinations are attractive to different types of tourists based on the kind of traveler they are, psycho or allo-centric and that majority of the tourists will prefer to travel for short distances than longer ones to go for holidays.

Thus it suggests that the tourist destinations in most of the developed countries which are in close proximity to major population areas, busy areas, markets, residential areas are likely to be developed and grow more quickly than those in the distant remote areas.

However, in actual practice, sometimes this theory may also prove wrong. On the contrary many of the remote areas are now getting faster developed than those near the major population areas.

While Plog’s theory was based more on the psychological part of tourists, Erik Cohen’s theory relate to the behavior of the tourists. Erik Cohen who developed a classification of tourists where there was a four chief classification.

First was the organized mass tourists who travel in groups, who prefer packaged holiday (travel, accommodation, food etc.) usually arranged by a travel agent.

The second type was the individual mass tourists who use the same facilities as the organized mass tourists, but the difference lies only in decision making. This group makes more individual based decisions about their activity and trip. There are also the explorers and the drifters.

While explorers would most often arrange their own trips, meet and interact with the locals drifters avoid all contact with other tourists and leave with the locals. This classification of tourists lives longer than the other groups.

If both the above mentioned tourist theories which basically delve into the characteristics of human behavioral aspects are combined then we would see that majority of Cohen’s mass tourist and independent mass tourists would converge with Plog’s psycho-centric tourists.

Later in the mid 1970s, Doxey proposed the Irritation Index or the Irridex. The Irridex was based on the relationship between the tourists and the locals.

The fundamental idea as it is evident from the name of the index itself is that over a time period as the number of tourist increase in a particular area, a greater irritation and hatred would build up amongst the locals towards the tourists.

So, over the time as the locals gets more irritant with the visitors and become hostile, the number of visitors might actually decline or might not continue to grow at the same rate as previously.

But the problem with most of these theories was that most of them were not based on proper field research but on discussions.

Butler’s Tourist Area Life Cycle (TALC) (Mason, 33) model on tourism which is still the most widely accepted and important theory deals with a particular destination, his theory explains how a destination emerge as a tourist destination after several stages.

Butler suggested a model where a tourism destination develops over time as a result of several factors. Destination is a very important element in tourism. A destination is defined most widely as a product is marketed to its consumers. And like all other products, tourist destinations also have a life cycle. Butler proposed a model for tourism area life cycle in which he showed how a destination begins as a relatively unknown place and visitors first come in small fractions because of lack of access, facilities and local knowledge (Miller and Galluci, 2004)

The key point in Butler’s model was that planning and proper remedial action by the tourists can help arrest the decline in resorts and tourism infrastructure.

One of the major challenges that the World Tourism Organization made in its Global Forecasts for the year 2000 and beyond is the issue of sustainability, which relates to the absorptive capacity of an economy with respect to tourism.

This does not refer to the physical capacity alone but also to the capacity of a particular area to provide tourism infrastructure, pool in investments, manpower, and natural resources.

While manpower would not be a constraint, other natural resources might be. The theory of sustainable tourism thus off late has emerged of greater relevance, which is necessary to promote environmental awareness and boost tourism industry on the whole.

Sustainable tourism in a nutshell can be explained as a means by which tourist growth is achieved as well as environment and earth’s scarce resources are preserved.

Apart from the environment issue another burning issue, which might emerge as an impediment is lack of trained skilled workforce to deliver value additions.

In conclusion it can be said that although several tourism theories have been put forth by several scholars to determine the roles and activities, the characteristics of tourists to boost the industry. There is a general lack of awareness about these theories amidst the policy makers. Tourism industry is still one of those industries, which is regulated by government administration. There are wide varieties of conceptual and theoretical approaches to tourism, which have to be tested in reality. This apart there is a further need for more field studies and employment of professionals in conducting the research, which will help achieve greater theoretical orientation and practical application.

The tourism industry has been growing at a phenomenal rate for the last fifty year especially, after the Second World War. The recession has had an effect on the industry, but the numbers of tourists worldwide are anticipated to be doubled to one billion plus by the end of 2010.

Keeping in tune with the changing times consumer demands will also change, more classifications based on growing needs of tourists might emerge.

What can be the cultural and social impact of tourism development

Researchers have identified a whole gamut of positive impacts of tourism development on societies. For example the direct outcomes of tourism development would be the modification of the internal structure of the community, increasing employment opportunities of the local residents, social change, economic affluence, improvement of the quality of life through infrastructure development. Similarly the interaction between the host and tourist increases tolerance and communication skills etc.

On the cultural side the arts, crafts and culture of the local area might be revived. Researchers have also identified several cons like deployment of natural resources, increased pressure on existing infrastructure, commodification of culture and its negative effects etc (Beeton 18)

Thus it can be seen in the essay how tourist behavioral needs, motivations, actions directly and indirectly affect tourism development in a place. Only right kind of practices would be able to give the necessary boost to this industry, which alone will contribute the largest chunk in global trade.

Understanding the needs and motivations of the tourists will help boost tourism industry manifolds. What is required is the right approach. Tourists’ behavior research in tourism has to be based on motivations, typologies, destination choices and the decision process. While this is good some scholars criticize it as stereotypical and generalized which might not be the same in reality. The gap between the theories and the reality can be bridged through research and constant study of tourist behavior.

References

K Kamra 1997, “Tourism: Theory, Planning and Practice”,

Second Edition-2008

Peter Mason, “Tourism Impacts, Planning and Management”

Online book version), Second edition- 2008,

Mason, P. & Cheyne, J. (2000).” Residents’ Attitudes to Proposed Tourism Development, Annals of Tourism Research.”

Peter Mason, “Tourism Impacts, Planning and Management” Second Edition

Abraham Pizam, Yoel Mansfeld, “Consumer behaviour in travel and tourism” Softcover edition published 2000

John Swarbrooke, Susan Horner, 2007, Consumer behaviour in tourism, Edition: 2, p 4, 428 pages

Sue Beeton 2006, “Community Development through Tourism.”, p 18.

I am trying to answer the following question of the extent to which tourism has had a positive effect on the development of Dominican Republic’s economy, environment, and cultural change. I decided to research tourism in the Dominican Republic because I traveled there last year in March with my graduating class. I stayed in Punta Cana at a beautiful all-inclusive resort. I had a wonderful time there and experienced the magnificent beaches as well as amazing hospitality. In this paper I will argue that tourism does not benefit the majority of people and in fact third world tourism can be measured up to colonialism. The tourism industry in the Dominican Republic has had a positive effect on economic development however in effect the environment and cultural changes are suffering.

I will argue this by first looking at tourism as a developmental strategy and the increase of foreign tourism, which presents clear economic benefits. Secondly, I will demonstrate the environmental issues and threats to the ecosystem that have started to arise because of the great number of tourists. Thirdly, I will look at the cultural changes that have evolved such as the increase of prostitution and sex tourism.

Background Information

The Dominican Republic (DR), due to its spectacular beaches and landscape has developed along different parts of its territory that are mainly devoted to tourism. The Ministry of Tourism is responsible for ensuring the endorsement of tourism in the Dominican Republic and the agreement with the provisions of the Organic Law of Tourism. [1]

According to the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, there have been dramatic increases in foreign tourism. In 2010 alone there have been 4,135,480 tourists that arrived by air. 3,189,306 of which have been foreigners, most of which were from North America. Tourism revenue increased rapidly in the 1990’s, more than doubling from 1992 to 1997, when it reached $2.1 billion. The Dominican Republic was one of six Caribbean countries that in 1992 earned more from tourism as a share of their exports than from any other sector. [2] Tourism in the Dominican Republic, as in other developing countries has an interplay of inequality with visitors from rich countries dropping in on the poor. The Caribbean is more tourism centered than any other part of the world. In some smaller islands, tourism threatens to become a new ‘monocrop economy’ leaving countries dependent on tourists.

Definition of Terms

Tourism has been described as the ‘new colonialism’. As said by author Srisang,”Tourism, especially Third World tourism, as it is practiced today, does not benefit the majority of people. Instead it exploits them, pollutes the environment, destroys the ecosystem, bastardizes the culture, and robs people of their traditional values…In other words, tourism epitomizes the present unjust world economic order where the few who control wealth and power dictate the terms. As such, tourism is little different from colonialism” [3] The DR is seen as a prototype for ‘enclave tourism’, which means that they maximize economic benefits and limit social and environment impacts by concentrating investments and visitors to a small geographical area. [4] These all-inclusive resorts provide everything so there is no need to leave the resort complex.

Connections to the Course

This topic connects to the course in many ways. Firstly, the Dominican Republic has been getting help from the IMF and World Bank for years now. The World Bank created a commitment to tourism as a development strategy for developing economies. Secondly, we can look at Wallerstein’s world system theory, which is arranged according to influence: core (most dominant), to semi-periphery, to periphery (least dominant). The DR is a semi-periphery because it is industrialized third world nation but it lacks the power and economic dominance of the core nations. Thirdly, Andre Gunder Frank argued that rich colonial (‘metropolitan’) powers acquired wealth through exploiting weaker (‘satellite’) countries such as the DR. Finally, ‘enclave tourism’ at the national level is frequently seen by the native population as a form of neo-colonialism. [5] Enclave guests are basically segregated from the local culture and from the local informal sector, which includes vendors, drug dealers and prostitutes. This inevitability creates a wall between the guests and the locals and the bigger issue is that it prevents economic benefits from these resorts to actually going back into the community. [6] A case study was done in Luperon, Dominican Republic, a small community with no prior experience with the tourism industry. The study found that the natural flaw of enclave tourism as a form of development in this area was that the management of the enclave resort wanted to reduce economic exchanges between tourists and local businesses in order to increase resort revenues. [7] There is an issue with the distribution of profits from these resorts because the local communities are not seeing any improvements.

Tourism as a Developmental Strategy

Although there are numerous tribulations with tourism in the DR, there have also been a lot of positive effects. In 2010, the Dominican economy showed a strong recovery by growing 7.5% during the first half of the year. [8] This is partly because of their trade exports such as cocoa, coffee, and tobacco but mostly because of tourism profits, which reached nearly US$3.2 billion in 2004. [9] Over the last four decades, the World Bank has had a strong commitment to tourism as a development strategy for many developing economies. In return, the Dominican economy has had a very dynamic growth largely dependent on tourism. Hotels drive most tourism and the all-inclusive appeal of everything being free along with attractions and activities as well as nightly entertainment. This increases the targeted audience to couples, families, teenagers and elders because there is something for everyone to do. The DR also has natural assets such as the climate, that is always warm and it rarely rains which entices tourists. Also, the Dominican’s tourism tax policy is important because it has one of the lowest taxes in the Caribbean, which allows them to get extra revenue from tourists. [10] We can see that the economy has increased and grown in many ways, however one cannot just focus on the economy. We must look at the environment and social impacts and analyze how they have been affected by tourism.

Environmental Impacts

The environment and sustainability can often be under looked when judging the success of tourism because the economic benefits are usually the first to be looked at. Despite the economic success the DR has had, it faces a series of problems related to its rapid growth. For example, insufficient supplies of clean water and electricity, combined with slow construction caused by shortages of materials that has forced some vacationers to leave early because of unsuitable living conditions.

The Dominican Republic has environmental issues in the areas of deforestation, water supply, and soil erosion and as the eroding soil goes into the sea, it in effect damages the nation’s coral reefs. Negative impacts from tourism occur when the level of visitors is greater than the environment’s ability to cope with this use, also known as “carrying capacity.”

The UN sources report that as of 1993, the nation was losing 20,000 hectares per year of its forestlands largely because of business interests. [11] The destruction of trees was forbidden in 1967 to try and fix the harsh effects of the forest destruction. However, many farmers continue to cut trees secretly to make more land available for development. Water pollution is also an issue and it results from the effects of mining along with industrial and agricultural sources. [12]

In addition there are endangered species in DR, some include the tundra falcon and three species of sea turtles. As a result of the rapid urbanization, the environment started to be greatly affected. Water resource management issues associated with tourism include, dumping of untreated wastewater and solid waste along the coast, overexploitation of groundwater, destruction of forest cover, and over fishing of coral reef and marine species. Sustainable development is what the country needs, which is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Social and Cultural Impacts

There have also been impacts of tourism on the rural livelihoods of the Dominican locals. The impact has generally been good, with an increase of household income along with increased job satisfaction. The rapid and rigorous development of tourism also results in different and usually less favorable consequences than small-scale development. Cultural clashes may arise through economic inequality or job level frictions. The clear relative wealth of the tourists often leads to unfair exploitation on the hosts’ side. One might add to these concerns the danger that tourism may lead to the commercialization of human relations. [13] Tourism often fails in promoting mutual understanding among different nations and stereotypes prevail. The tourist-host relationship is often restricted by space and time constraints. Tourists often fail to respect local customs and moral values, either out of ignorance or carelessness. Also, the profitable sexual exploitation of children and young women has matched up to the growth of tourism in many parts of the world. While tourism is not the cause of sexual exploitation, it provides easy access. Tourism also brings consumerism to many parts of the world, which before had no access to luxury services. The allure of this easy money has caused many young people, to trade their bodies in exchange for numerous different bits and pieces.

Responsible Tourism

We hear this term of being a ‘responsible tourists’ quite a bit. What is meant by it is that we as tourists should respect the people who are working at the resort, be culturally aware and having a low-impact.

The street vendors in the market are normally the last to see the financial rewards of the all-inclusive, mass in the DR so paying the tourists price is not so much a bad thing. We as tourists have the privileged attitude of being able to give something back directly to the people because we are in constant contact with them. In addition, it hardly needs saying that tourists should pick up litter, refrain from uprooting plants and coral, and use energy resources such as water and electricity efficiently, which are scarce in the DR.

Conclusion

After looking a great deal of articles and websites, I would have to say that tourism in the Dominican Republic has done more harm than good. In my opinion, the detrimental environmental and social impacts of third world tourism are more of a concern than economic benefits. There will always be a demand for tourism in the Dominican however if the supply of beautiful and clean beaches, water and local hospitality is not available then tourists will change their vacation plans. The implications of my findings are that, tourism and tourists impinge on the local environment and traditional customs of Dominican workers. This is important to realize because from knowing and understanding this we can move forward by changing our ways. Acting as a tourists should by not putting a strain on the environment and being more culturally tolerant. Just because we are on vacation does not mean our values should fly out the window. There are always implications to our behavior and it is time that we become responsible tourists.

Britton, S.G. (1982) “The political economy of tourism in the Third World” Annals of Tourism Research” 9: 331-38.

Debbage, K.G. (1990) “Oligopoly and the resort cycle in the Bahamas” Annals of Tourism Research 17: 513-27.

“Dominican Republic Environment,” Encyclopedia of the Nations [Online] [Accessed Febuary 15th 2011]

Available:

Freitag, T.G. 1994. “Enclave tourism development: for whom the benefits roll?” Annals of Tourism Research 21: 538-54

Kiskeye Alternativa. 1999. “Tourism Development in the Dominican Republic: Growth, Costs, Benefits and Choices” New Jersey, USA: Rutgers University.

(http://kiskeya-alternative.org/publica/afuller/rd-tourism.html)

[Meritas Lawyers]. 2010. Doing Business in Latin America and the Caribbean. Minneapolis, US: Meritas

Meyer-Arendt, KJ., Sambrook, R.A. and Ker-math, B.M. (1992) “Seaside resorts in the Dominican Republic: a typology” Journal of Geography 91: 219-25

Srisang, K. 1991. “Third World Tourism- The New Colonialism” In Focus (Tourism Convern) 4:2-6

The map of the world is in phase of being redrawn, according to the surgical specialties and the fields of intervention: plastic surgery, eyes and dental in Tunisia, treatment of the skin diseases in Turkey, organ transplant, in particular renal and transplant of the liver in Thailand, surgery of eyelids in the Panama, the in vitro fertilization in Spain aˆ¦

The competition begins to rage among destinations which invest in infrastructures, regulations and communication. All demand a part of a very juicy cake. Professionals of health and tourism, as well as all the strategic studies agree with considering the potential of this new crenel as “enormous”. Tourism, the transverse character of which in all other activities be it economic, ecological, agricultural, cultural, social etc, cannot make any more the dead end on the principles governing its own development and has to show in the next years of innovation and imagination to answer a request which has become increasing. For Africa generally and Tunisia in particular, tourism constitutes a crucial control lever to contribute to impulse the development. In Tunisia the quality of training in health and in tourism as well as its adjacent broadcasting countries can establish a competitive advantage at the level of medical tourism.

Being a growing niche these last years, medical tourism in Tunisia is widely becoming within the reach of potential applicants. Strong of its entry to the zone of the free – exchange with Europe at the beginning of this year, Tunisia is positioned as a partner of choice. A wide program is established to make of the country a pole of quality and future in terms of export of health services. However this commitment is conditioned by the integration and the raising awareness of the various stakeholders in such adequate steps.It is of this fact that most of the persons in charge and the actors operating in the tourist sector have to meet around a real consensus on the concept of medical tourism, and launch the challenge in front of an open to criticism present and a more or less desirable and optimistic future. The various stakeholders of the Tunisian tourist system establish then a relevant space of reflections and exchanges towards the development of medical tourism, these are main things of concern by the optimal management, the health, the integration of the population, the promotion, the competitiveness, the quality and the durability and this can raise only decisions and fixed approaches collectively on the basis of the forward-looking reflections generating the best scenarios which can lead to improve medical tourism in Tunisia.

Even if the concept of medical tourism was not as well important as it is it today, the current situation allowed to report the necessity of better promoting it and of organizing it to reach the objectives assigned by the project of development of the tourist sector and that of the health, and so we are engaged in this research work which concerns at the same time, the present and the future to explain and understand the realities which allow to support the potential evolutions to reach a sustainable development. This work tries to emphasize a solution of the dilemma to maintain the development and the decision-making support by analyzing the change of the attitudes of the stakeholders implied in the tourist system and that of the health in Tunisia.

1. Current status of tourism sector in Tunisia and Methodology
1.1. Tourism in Tunisia: inventories of fixtures

The tourist sector plays a leading role in the economic development of Tunisia, considering its important contribution for the growth of the Gross domestic product (In 2009 it contributed to 7 % of the GDP [1] (Gross Domestic Product) and 20 % of receipts in currencies, in the equilibrium of the balance of payments, in the polarization of any kinds of the investments, besides the job creation and the energization of the economic activity generally.

This sector knows a continuous development and carried out a qualitative jump at every level, thanks to the multiple assets which the Tunisian tourist product has and which make of Tunisia a privileged tourist destination.

The geographical setting of Tunisia, which opens on two banks of the Mediterranean Sea, the wealth and the variety of its cultural and natural heritage and its profound acquired experience on tourism, have made of our country a general-purpose tourist destination. The development which the tourist sector has known in Tunisia is reflected through the increasing rise of the number of the tourists who reached approximately 7 million tourists in 2008, (+ 4.4 % with regard to 2007) [2] .

Within the framework of the IXth plan, the strategic orientations turned around four axes:

The diversification and the enrichment of the tourist product and the location on the promising markets;

The improvement of the quality of the services;

The upgrade of the infrastructure and the maintenance of the tourist environment;

The consolidation of the role of the private sector in the tourism.

1.2. Medical tourism in Tunisia:

Tunisia made a commitment in the continuous improvement and development of the strategic sectors to be known; the education, the health and the tourism. Indeed the health and the services which are connected to it are considered as a promising crenel and an important engine of the economic and social development. For some years Tunisia lives a dynamics of growth in this domain which smoothed it among leader countries on an international scale. So much so, it occupies the second position in the field of the tourism of health after South Africa according to the African scale and the second world destination in thalassotherapy after France.

In the light of the study carried out by the French Agency of development (AFD) in 2005 on the exports of health services of developing countries, we notice that Tunisia is very competitive on the subject. The study has henceforth highlighted a strong potential in the field of medical tourism which can have more questionable performances in the future. The recent study of the World Bank on ” the world integration of Tunisia: a new generation of reforms for boosting growth and employment ” on 2008, confirms this performance by identifying medical tourism as one of the emergent crenellations.

In fact not enough reliable and detailed statistics exist on the subject.

The statistics which exist show that in 2007 more than 100000 foreign patients of diverse nationalities visit Tunisia for health care against 42000 in 2003

number of well-kept Tunisians abroad is crossed the 1.152 in 1987 to reach 180 persons in 2006.

24 % of the turnover of the private hospitals deprived results from the export of health services with foreign patients. The Libyan clientele is dominant, that is 80 % of the well-kept foreign patients, whereas the European patients constitute 11 % as well in number as in turnover. This European demand can be the object of a remarkable development in the years which come with the ageing of the population in Europe and the mobilization of the tourists with the aim of treatment, care or other similar services. The most mobile of them are the Italians (68 %) and the Germans (63 %).

The exploration of the market of medical tourism brings to light four big demands for Tunisia, as such:

The inter-Arabic and the mediterrean market: the importance and the regularity of the flows of Arabic patients coming from nearby countries particularly Libya drove numerous clinical Tunisian to organize an offer of services specialized for this clientele. The qualitative advantage of Tunisia could be widened in the other local markets, in particular Algeria, which constitutes approximately 3 % in foreign number of patients and in figure of business exported of private hospitals deprived. Also, the other adjacent African markets present a potential which begins to be exploited.

Henceforth, some private hospitals of Tunisia signed agreements with Mauritanian institutions. The presence of the African Development Bank also contributes to improve the fame of the private hospitals Tunisians and to attract a new African clientele.

A niche to develop the tourists and the European expatriates: the market of the care to the European tourists is difficult to estimate. Indeed, the number of patients in private hospitals seems very low compared with the flow of 2,8 million European tourists. Nevertheless, the medical tourism of the European represents a strategic stake for the improvement of the medical and technical level and for the fame and the reputation on the international plan. It also constitutes an important factor for the development of the paramedical tourism and the well-being, such as thalassotherapy, massages, etc.

This method implies that the researcher case-studies his data. “The work of analysis is made as one goes along, important parts of this analysis matching the data collection” (HOURS Becker, 1958 quoted by [Aktouf1992], p197). Now, it is not the approach which we followed because we became a researcher on a well-determined subject (the project of development of the medical tourism in Tunisia). Nevertheless, we shall use the techniques of the participating observation namely: the daily observation accompanied with notes taking, with collection of archives and with retrieval systems (Fortin1988). The participation entails inevitably relations of nearness, even an intimacy with the actors of a given ground. The observation constitutes in its part a “natural” activity of every participant. But in its most rigorous academic meaning of a word, it is supposed to lean on a remote stake objectivized by these same human relations.

3.2. The active and semi-directive with no leading questions interview:

This technique could be interesting for the implication of the researcher which it proposes. According to Alex Mucchielli [3] : ” the maintenance is opened and centered, it rests not on the reactions of the interviewee to precise questions but on the expression free of its ideas on a given subject (aˆ¦) .In this technique, the interviewer does not ask questions but contents with following the progress of the thought of his interlocutor. He presents syntheses regularly, but he is active at most.

3.3. The Mactor Method: crucial control lever of the strategic prospective.

The theory of actors’ games supplies a set of tools of rather vast analysis but to the applications limited by the mathematical constraints and the often restrictive hypotheses. The method MACTOR (Method of Actors, Tactics Objectives and Recommendations) propose an approach of analysis of the game set of the actors and some simple tools which allow to take into account the wealth and the complexity of the information to be treated, by supplying the analyst with the intermediate results which enlighten him on certain dimensions of the problem.

Acknowledgement

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to many people who have been there for me to supervise, direct, assist to help in the completion of the dissertation.

First and foremost I would like to thank my tutor Ms.Pupinder Kher (Ms.Puppi) for her kind help throughout my dissertation.

I would also like to thank Mr Saleem from the Faculty of Hospitality & Tourism Studies in Maldives for providing me with a lot of information on number of girls who have studied in the faculty over the past 5 years which has enabled me to sum up the trend of the young women joining the industry through their higher studies.

I am also grateful to my young respondents for giving their time in order to fill up the survey forms for which has enabled the most to fulfill my objectives in this dissertation.

Last but not least to my beloved family & friends who have given me support and help throughout my bachelor degree program at the Taylors University and believing in my research. Without their help I wouldn’t have been able to compile this report. Thank you everyone although I could not have mentioned every name, your help is most appreciated.

Abstract
General Introduction

With the rise of tourism sector in the Maldives in 1972 with one resort, it has improved to be the “Ranbis alhaa kukulhu” by the Maldivians or defined as “The chicken that lays golden eggs” which made a gateway to the employment as well as a boost in the economy of Maldives. The country with more than a thousand pearl islands in the Indian Ocean depends heavily on the contribution of tourism to its economy.

Along the years of the tourism development, the start of one resort in 1972 has changed to 91 registered operating resorts, 14 hotels, 23 guesthouses, and to more than 147 registered tourism vessels in operation and many more in development, over the last 3 decades.

The tourism sector has developed over the years since the first resort emerged in the year 1972 which also created a boost gateway in the employment sector of the country. During the 1990’s, it was 6% of the employment which contributed to the tourism sector due to reasons such as lack of education in the field, un acceptance of the working environment since in Maldives its ‘one island, one resort’ concept and also due to the religious facts such as working in places where wine & liquor are served are prohibited, and lack of foreign language. Then, it was mostly men who travelled to work in the resorts while the women were to look after the family and most were housewives.

Over the years, the acceptance of women working in the tourism sector directly dealing with the tourists have been increasing slowly. it is believed the main reasons which limits the number of women working in the resort are due to the ‘one island, one resort’ concept where by a person has to work all week in the resort for which they are also accommodated on the same island and are able to visit back to their family once a week. This becomes problems for most that have a family. And also due to ethical beliefs among people for which woman have to work among men far away from the families is still not being well accepted by the perception of the community.

As mentioned above, this dissertation would focus on issues regarding possibilities, reasons and opportunities which lack the young women to work in the tourism sector, mainly in the resorts which the small island nation such as Maldives is well known for. Hence the topic chosen for this dissertation is: An analysis on the reluctance of young women joining the tourism industry in Maldives. The ‘young women” is described as young girls between the age of the 16 – 20 which is the most appropriate age for the girls to chose a field to build their career either through further higher studies in a desired sector or working.

The main four objectives to be covered in the research would be in order to find the following.

What are the views and opinions of the fresh graduates from high school towards women working in the tourism sector?
What can hospitality education programs or facilities do in order to attract more women towards the industry?
What are the factors that motivate them to join the industry? ( that is either starting their higher studies in the tourism sector or work)
What are the factors why most girls are reluctant to work in resorts?

The following objectives are to be covered on the primary data collected.

This dissertation consists of two parts. The first part discuses the existing facts and figures of the women in the industry, concept and existing practices in the community. Also issues, challenges and barriers in the industry for woman theoretically explained by different people which is related to the independent and dependent variables of the research.

The second part consists of the research methodology, the findings and analysis.

For the research methodology, the research consists of primary and secondary data collected. The primary data would be the Questionnaire forms which would be filled up by the sample ages group which is girls between the age of 16 – 20. The analysis on the primary data would complete the objectives to be covered in the research as well as give the results of the hypothesis in this dissertation. The research methodology would be more briefed in the second part. The hypotheses to be tested are:

H1: The views and opinions of the fresh graduates from high school towards women working in tourism industry would be an acceptable factor in the minds of the modern generation; hence they may be not able to work due to family influence in choosing their career or the perception of the people towards girls working.
H2: The views and opinions of most fresh graduates towards working in the tourism sector would be unstable and would need guidance from informative sources about their career path
H3: The resorts assuring the women as well as the parents of them on the safe and security of the working environment would attract women towards the industry
H4: Factors such as families influence, the perception among people towards girls working in resorts and religious beliefs are main reasons why most girls are reluctant to work in the industry

The importance of the chosen topic is due to several reasons such as, as per a survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2006, it showed that it was a percentage of 54% employed are locals in the resorts, among that only 3% represents the women in the industry. The importance of feminism gender in the industry is very much needed in the tourism industry today.

Today, due to the dominant of the male gender in the tourism sector over the years since the beginning of tourism in Maldives, it has been a failure to recruit or to attract the female gender not even equivalent, but not even close to being equivalent to the male gender to work in the resorts.

If the tourism industry ignores this problem today, in the future, there may not be any chances of career building for a woman in the industry which has become the main occupation of the country.

Also one reason that motivated me personally in choosing this research topic is that I have seen my friends who studied with me, chose another career due to several barriers which they faced that changed their career leaving the hospitality industry after their higher studies in the tourism sector.

Part 1 – Literature Review
Existing situation in the industry

As per a survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture in the year 2006 shows that a percentage of 7.876% is the total of women, both local and foreign working in the industry while the rest 92.124% are male, both local and foreign.

The survey also summed up that there were more foreign women in the industry then locals with a difference of 2%.

In order to find the existing problems that are faced by the women to join the industry, the main theory focused in this dissertation would be the “Glass Ceiling” theory (Knutson & Schmidgall ,1999) and Human Capital Theory (Becker,1975).

The ‘Glass Ceiling’ is described as an invisible barrier which cause the women difficulties or are unable to reach higher posts. These barriers either limits the further growth of a women’s carrier in an organization or consists of de-motivating factors for which most chose not to work long term in the industry.

This may be occurring in the Maldives since over the years, the tourism sector has been dominant by the male gender that the woman are not provided with higher positions unless with long time work experience or by higher studies, and for a long time, with the males working in the resorts, the women have mostly been housewives or been in other fields of work.

The Human Capital Theory (Becker, 1975), describes that the differences in the income as well as the jobs offered are based on a person’s experience, education and trainings. And that it involves no gender discrimination.

The glass ceiling is also caused by different other factors such as sexual harassment, limitations in ‘the old boy network’, work and family balance,

Describing sexual harassment, (Dunwoody-Miller and Gutek 1985). Sexual harassment could also be described in a work place other then abusing, but also such as humiliation in front of other people. Mostly within a work force with a larger number of men, the women could be humiliated for what they said in a crowd which they could feel sexually harassed. In most cases, it could be their seniors doing it. But unfortunately, most are un1ware of the policies of an organization on whom it has to be reported for which some chooses to leave the organization.

The informal social group which has the high connection with the management allowing them for easier promotions and higher positions are described as ‘The boy network’ (Oakley, 2000). Thus in the hospitality industry, a lot of women complain that they are excluded from this informal groups where by the old boy net work also limits the opportunities of growth to the women.

Unlike the men, the women are also mostly responsible for the family as well as work. In order to balance out their work life as well as family life, the woman either try to find helpers or nannies to manage the homes or chooses jobs with lesser responsibilities and time that has to be spend in the work. (McGrath, 1999; Higgings et. al, .2000).

Goa is known as the “Rome of the East” having an area of 3702 Sq. Km. of lush green mountains, blue waters and white sands, winding rivers and picturesque villages with local flora and fauna Goa is thus famous for tourism. Tourism is important because it helps to maintain goa’s economy and also great contributors to exchange. Besides tourism there is mining, farming and fishing as the other important occupations of the people. It is a small state, with 140 km from North to South and 65 Km from East to West. Goa beaches has become the major attraction for the tourists such as Agonda, Calangute, Candolim, Dona Paula etc. besides this there are also churches like Basilica of Bom Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustine and others. The state is famous for unending carnivals; Christmas parties and the sunburn festival are the centre of attraction for massive crowd. Goa receives largest number of tourist from Germany, Finland, UK, France, USA etc. The domestic tourists come from all over India as it is very popular tourist’s destination. Goa caters to the tastes of various tourists through the various types of tourism such as Beach Tourism, Adventure tourism, Wildlife Tourism, Pilgrimage Tourism and Cultural Tourism.

Having a coastline of 105 km, the beaches of Goa are a very important tourist attraction. From Keri in the north to Palolem in the south, Goa has many world famous beaches like Arambol, Colva,Vagator, Anjuna (known for its flea market),Baga Calangute, Palolem and many other small lesser known beaches where the tourists can relax, soak up the sun and feast on the local cuisine. Goa also has a very good potential for activities like trekking, paragliding, dolphin sighting, boating, go-carting and mountain climbing.Goa has 4(four) wild life sanctuaries, one wild life national park and one bird sanctuary. A lot of tourist visit these sanctuaries every year. Goa has a variety of flora and fauna which are also used to attract tourists. Goa also has two beautiful lakes, at Mayem and Carambolim, where migratory birds are sighted in large number., Goa is also famous for its religious places and it is a major reason why tourists all over the world come to these places to visit them. The World Heritage Site at Old Goa is a major tourist attraction with a large number of churches such as St Cajetan church, St Francis of Assisi Church and Convent, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Se Cathedral, the Archaeological Museum, the Christian Art Museum, the ruins of the Church and Monastery of St Augustine, The Chapel of St Catherine, the Viceroy’s Arch, Chapel of St Anthony (opposite the ruins of the Church of St Augustine) Convent of Santa Monica. Besides this there are many other beautiful churches and temples all over Goa. Besides the churches in Old Goa we have the famous Mangueshi and Mardol temples as well as the Saptakoteshwar temples at Narve . Goa is also a land of rich and diverse culture and people of different religions who live peacefully together in harmony and are famous for their own traditions and culture. Goa hosts the famous Carnival and also in recent years, the IFFI. Besides, Bonderam at Divar , the Sangodd (Boat festival) and Taranga are also famous. Goa is also known for its traditional cultural dances and songs like Mandos, Fugddies, Goff, and many others. Goa has an architecturally rich heritage of the old Portuguese houses and has many forts like Chapora, Teracol and Alorna which attract the tourists. The Alorna fort is an attractive attraction for backwater Tourism.The Rivers flowing from the eastern Sahyadri Range to the western Arabian Sea, from north to south, include Tiracol, Chapora, Mandovi, Zuari, Sal and Talpona, winding through villages give support to the local economy, either for agriculture or for fishing.

Sustainable tourism is also important for goa. Sustainability means a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. Thus it is a process which takes care of tomorrow as well as today conserving resources which are necessary to ensure continuity. Sustainable tourism makes minimal impact on the environment and local culture by helping to generate income and employment for locals as well as for the conservation of local ecosystem. If tourism grows at a high rate, it tends to destroy or at least cause irretrievably damage to flora and fauna. Sustainable tourism is especially important for a small state like Goa because large number of both Indian and foreign tourists are increasing every year. Goa being a tiny state the carrying capacity of the state with regard to size, facilities available and the ecological fragility must be studied and taken into consideration while allowing tourism only then such tourism will be beneficial for the state and the people. Community-based management, nongovernmental organizations, tourists and locals all should be trained so that goan ecosystem does not suffer as a result of excessive tourism. The local community has an important role to play in sustainable tourism and they have to keep in mind certain points if they wish to continue tourism to be the mainstay for the economy of the state The local people should be courteous to the tourists and help them to have a wonderful holiday. They should not harass the tourists by staring at them and following them unnecessarily. There should be no over charge for tourists with regard to transport or food.

The local’s should not force tourists to buy their products such as the harassment done by local vendors and the small children who continuously follow them in order to buy their products.

Tourism has brought a positive impact on goa in many ways like financial contributions with regard to this it has been one of the largest contributors to the exchequer. Goa’s economy receives a major boost from the tourist industry. Goa, a tourist paradise for both domestic and foreign tourists, it attracts tourists in thousands. Being immensely gifted by nature for its scenic beauty, beautiful beaches girdling its 105-km long palm-fringed coast interspersed with enchanting coves, bays and estuaries, paddy fields, shady coconut, cashew and mango groves dotted with tiny picturesque villages, temples and churches renowned for worship and pilgrims, forts. Tourism is so prominent that the number of tourists almost equals the number of state population. Tourism has also helped goa with regard to employment. Because tourism has given rise to many hotels across goa, many goan youth pursue their career in such hotels. As a result of tourism the booming hotel industry has catered the financial needs of the weaker sections of the society. This helped them to earn their livelihood. Hotel management courses set up by the goa government are giving more of the local unemployed the skills to secure higher paid jobs in the industry.

To conclude I would say that Tourism in goa has had a positive effect on many businesses including bars and restaurants, boutiques, construction, cinemas, bakeries, shacks, local stalls, etc. The earnings from tourism has helped to raise investments required to sustain a tourism that is linked to historic and cultural places in Goa the heritage places within Goa. Tourism is a big business in Goa, and one that is continuously growing. The modern world is full of stress and people search new ways to relax themselves and thus come to Goa in search of a peaceful life and break from all the stress and become refreshed and rejuvenated.

In the past few years, the body of literature on tourism promotion has grown. Some scholars have paid more attention on this field. Through review being provided by Rothschild (1987, p, 24) and Shimp (1990, p, 19), promotion was originally used in the marketing communication field, and concept of promotion consists of four main elements, namely publicity, advertising, personal selling and sales promotion. According to, Witt and Moutinho (1995, p, 376) claim, “promotion is the crux of any successful tourism venture”. Moreover, the promotion of tourism regards as complex communication activities. In other words, the point of Witt and Moutinho (1995, p, 377) is that “promotion is the mix of communication activities designed by tourist organizations to influence those target audiences upon whom their sales depend both directly and indirectly, in both the short and long term”. In addition, in terms of tourism products have their own features, therefore the ways of promotion are different from other types of products. Furthermore, based on previous research, promoting tourism is not only a responsibility of tourist organizations, but also is a program activity of countries, states and provinces (Gunn & Var, 2002, p, 57). According to Ascher (1982, cited in Hall, 2007, p, 182), tourism promotion plays an active role in activities of government. What is more, Hall (2007, p, 182) explained that in Australia either Commonwealth or state government pays more attention on the promotion of tourism. In addition, according to the studies of Gunn and Var (2002, p, 57) claim that “promotion for tourism usually encompass four activities: advertising, publicity, public relations and incentives”.

The terms of purpose of tourism promotion is attract visitors and build the sense of a destination. As Middleton (1993, p, 32) suggest “tourism promotion serves many functions in addition to the more obvious one of increasing awareness of a place and encouraging visitors through the communication of attractive images”. In other words, Tourism promotion can be a tool in image of destination building and increasing a sense of place. And then based on the studies of Henderson (2003, p, 72) point out that tourism promotion can inspire civic pride, as well as to strengthen the sense of belonging for place on the one hand, on the other hand via tourism promotion, destinations can enhanced the reputation in the world wide. In addition both governments and tourism organizations can get economic benefits.

According to the research of Witt and Moutinho (1995, p, 379) concluded that promotion of tourism has several fundamental features. For instance, tourism promotion regard as tourism products, which means promotion in tourism, has almost the same features as tourism products. In addition, due to tourism promotion based on symbols, such as sounds, images, pictures, and words, promotion in tourism is harder than in most other kinds of marketing. In brief, “promotion alone must generate desire and acceptance in the absence of more tangible evidence, which is why it is no exaggeration to say that promotion is the product” (Witt & Moutinho, 1995, p, 380). Moreover, the risk associated with tourism promotion (Dwyer & Forsyth, 1992, P, 18). Because tourism promotion could be seen as either short-tern or long-term investment activities, the whole process of promoting tourism faces risk. In addition, tourism industry, which is a risky industry, can affect on tourism promotion (Witt & Moutinho, 1995, p, 381). Furthermore, tourism promotion has integrated feature. Based on previous research from Witt and Moutinho suggested that promotion might be seen as complex activity for the governments, travel agencies and destinations. As a result, all the diverse elements of tourism promotion, such as brochures, advertising and films, could be consistent with this feature (Witt & Moutinho, 1995, p, 380). Moreover, tourism promotion has certain cultural feature. Since tourism is a cultural product to customers, promoting tourism is to reflect the cultural expectations of the market. It seems that “promotion tends to deal with cultural stereotypes” (Witt & Moutinho, 1995, p, 380).

2.1.1 Tourism promotion in Traditional Media

In general, the concept of traditional media is opposite idea of social media (Bruhn, Schoenmueller & Schafer, 2012, p, 770). In addition, according to studies provided by Hsu, Killion, Brown, Gross and Huang (2008, p, 302) indicated that traditional media consist by television, film, radio, magazines, newspapers and other print materials. These various forms of traditional media play different roles in tourism promotion. For instance, advertisements are regarded as significant form among tourism promotion. Tourism advertisements are available in different traditional media platforms, such as newspapers, magazines and television (Gunn & Var, 2002, p, 57). According to previous research from Hsu, et al (2008, p, 302) asserted, advertising in newspaper, which is seen as the low-cost promotional way. Despite the feature of low-cost, Leckenby (2005, p, 24) asserted, newspapers provide wide reach. As a result many tourism organizations prefer this form as the channel of promotion. Furthermore, compared with advertising in newspaper, advertising in television is more expensive. According to Hsu, et, al (2008, p, 304) point out that “a television advertisement can achieve national exposure and reach a large proportion of the population if it is shown several times during prime-time shows over a number of weeks”. It clear that advertising in television is traditional and significant tourism promotional way. Additionally, tourism television advertisements are also regarded as the important channel of national tourism campaign in the past few years (Hall, 2007, p, 181).

Additionally, tourism brochures are one of common tourism promotional ways. Based on a literature review, Hsu, et al (2008, p, 298) assert “Brochures and other printed materials play a more significant role in tourism than in most other industries”. It is clear that brochures, as printed media, play a key role in tourism promotion. In addition, because of other forms of media are expensive for promotion, advertising in brochures is more popular forms of promotion in travel and tourism (Rozier-Rich & Santos, 2011, p, 395). Furthermore, from the research of Andereck (2005, p, 8) assert “brochures is an influential source of travel information for tourists”. In addition, a variety of researchers exist which show brochure is one of significant and widely of promotional method available in tourism industry (Holloway & Plant, 1988; Wicks & Schuett, 1991, p, 301). With rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies, according to previous researchers, Andereck (2005, p, 3) suggested “travel brochures continue being the main promotional tool for many places or tourism business which does not have the necessary economic, human, technical or structural resources for spreading information in a more complex or sophisticated way”. However, similar to researches put forth by Andereck (2005), Hsu et al (2008, p, 311) argued that if tourism brochures have not been chose appropriate ways to attract attention from customers, and distributed to the improper destinations, brochures are going to be ineffective. As a result, despite printing tourism brochures, many organizations using website to promote their products and services. Moreover, according to Gunn and Var (2002, p, 57) claim “of great aid in promoting tourism is the recent explosion in the use of the Internet and electronic business”. It seems that the Internet might be seen as a challenge to tourism brochures.

Furthermore, in some studies found that films as a tourism tool, which play an active role in tourism industry. Riley and Doren (1991, p, 267) point out that “movies become ‘pull’ factors (attraction) situated in ‘push’ locations (tourism generating areas)”. Via films, which can attract tourists to travel as well as cultivate familiarity feeling of tourists toward destinations. From the beginning of 1980s, for example, Australian government used movies as promotional tool. In 1986, the movie Crocodile Dundee released, which express Australian bush culture and laconic Australian identity. Additionally, when the film Australian released, which encourage more international visitors to Australia (Beeton, 2004, p, 131). Therefore, Australia is an appropriate example to analysis movie as a tourism promotion tool.

Currently, a large number of studies focus on using tourism brochures, advertising and films to promote tourism business. In addition, little research has pay attention on the impact of Internet for tourism promotion. However, tourism promotion in traditional media existed some problems. For example, traditional media platforms are difficult to attract and capture the attention of target customers on the one hand. On the other hand, the process of update and transmit information is ineffective, such as advertising in newspapers and television, the content need to repeat several times might be attracted attention from target customers or travelers. According to the studies produced by Stern (1995, p, 127, cited in Leckenby, 2005, p, 5) claimed, traditional media, such as television, is a passive and time-constrained media. With rapid development of network communications, social media is gradually effect in many industries. It seems that “social media are increasingly replacing traditional media” (Bruhn, et al, 2012, p, 771). In addition, many scholars pay more attention on promotion in marketing area. However, few studies show a concern on how to use social media, which play a key roe in promotion, to promoting tourism.

2.2

Tourism makes an important contribution to Australia’s export earnings. The objective of tourism marketing is not merely to increase international visitor arrivals, but primarily, to increase expenditure injected into Australia on goods and services purchased by tourists. Recently there has been an increased emphasis on the importance of enhancing Australia’s tourism “yield” by attracting visitors from high-spending markets (sited in the Australian Government 2004; Dwyer et al.2007). To market Australia as a tourist destination, Tourism Australia works closely with the travel industry, the Government and the State/Territories. The demand function for international tourism for a given destination may be expressed as a function of income, prices, and marketing expenditure. Australia has had one of the strongest performing economies of the world. Australia has an efficient government sector, a flexible labour market with a very competitive business sector. Such environment is a key driver of tourism activity. The policy settings set by the government are designed to deliver a vibrant tourism industry that makes a strong contribution to the economy. In Australia tourism is increasingly seen as an instrument for sustaining indigenous communities, many of whom look to tourism for a better future. The Australian federal, State/Territory governments has sought to create tourism policies to facilitate market growth and product development in the indigenous sector.

On 5 June 2003, the Federal government released a draft medium to long term strategy to help grow a sustainable Australian tourism industry and better position it against future shocks by making it more robust and flexible. Main key themes of the strategy include sustainable growth and diversification of the Australian tourism product, and a focus on business yield and niche markets. The shift from an emphasis on quantity to quality is important for reducing pressure on infrastructure, protecting the environment, encouraging diversification and product development and improving profitability in the industry. Australian environment is unique from the unspoilt beaches, tropical rainforests, rugged mountain ranges and vast tracts of desert. Some few examples of Australia’s natural wonders include the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is as big as the total combined area of the UK and Ireland which contains more than 1,000 islands, from sandy bays to rainforest isles. The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area Tropical North Queensland is the sort of place that someone would like to travel, it covers 900,000 hectares. The Uluru Ayers Rock is considered one of the great wonders of the world and one of the Australia’s most recognizable natural icons. Australians’ care about their unique environment such as sustainable tourism is an important factor in policy making. The Australian government is committed to and works closely with the tourism industry to deliver an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism product.

A significant contribution to tourism is made by cultural tourism. The experiences generated by Australian performances, visual arts and our heritage are unique. Australia’s National Tourism Policy the broad mission statement of Australia’s Federal government in relation to tourism policy is to contribute to Australia’s economic and social well being through the development of policies that achieve on internationally competitive tourism sector focused on sustainable growth. In the year 1998 a National Action Plan for Tourism was released by the Federal government to provide direction for tourism policy formulation and industry planning. Some of the key objectives of the Plan included developing potential new and emerging markets through targeted marketing strategies. Encouraging the development of efficient and competitive transportation networks, Fostering regional tourism development, enhancing industry standards and skill levels, improving the industry’s information base, encouraging the conservation and preservation of Australia’s unique natural and cultural heritage, encouraging diversification of the industry’s product base and reinforcing Australia’s image as a safe and friendly destination. The whole of the government approach pursued in Australia is intended to ensure a sound economic foundation that aims to create an optimum policy environment for tourism development.

Community involvement is an important factor that is likely to significantly influence the sustainability of any tourism development. The involvement of locals in the planning and operational stages can ensure that development will be socially and environmentally responsible and that resulting impacts will be perceived as appropriate by the host community. Tourism businesses in Australia will continue to face a range of short- and long- term external shocks and challenges in major climate change reports. Climate change is an example of a material threat to Australia’s tourism industry. The Australian government should try controlling the number of visitors arriving in Kakadu Park which is a World Heritage site, the government can either do so by limiting numbers to match capacity rather than having the tourists concentrated in time in a focused ‘tourist season. The Australian government realized in 1990s that tourism was affecting wildlife in the park. A number of bird species including red-winged parrots, sulphur coackatoos and shiny flycatchers were recorded as being ‘highly disturbed’ when tourist boats passed them.

Most activities done at the Great Barrier Reef which is made up of some 600 islands, 300 cay (reef islands) and almost 300 submerged reefs. The chef activity on the reef is scuba diving and snorkelling. There is increase in environmental impacts by these human activities which include physical destruction of reefs by anchors and divers’ feet and hands. Divers can even cause damage to the coral merely by resting on it, as it so sensitive. Some boats end up polluting the water by releasing sewage, furthermore divers feed or touch fish which leads to the modification of fish behavior. The Australian government should have a pandemic preparedness and planning for the Australian Tourism Industry for example an influenza pandemic in Australia would be unlike any other modern disaster and would create new challenges for communities and business that operate within them. Should an influenza pandemic emerge, the tourism industry is likely to be impacted by temporary measures to prevent its transmission and spread, such as restrictions on travel, closer of public places, reduced consumer confidence. My personal critique of the policies are by developing potential new emerging markets through targeted marketing strategies the Australian government should try improving their international marketing strategies and effectiveness through a greater focus on regional dispersal and by freshing and enhancing the brand Australia. Encouraging the development of efficient and competitive transportation networks can only work if the government helps to facilitate the development and growth of sustainable air, sea and land transport services and key tourism infrastructure.

Fostering regional tourism development can be achieved by supporting domestic tourism marketing and doing promotions, which include regional promotions by advertising in the newspapers or television. The policy of enhancing the industry standards and skills levels can be achieved by the government ensuring training delivers skills appropriate for the tourism workforce and businesses and promote improved productivity. Improving the industry’s information base can be achieved by improving tourism information, research and forecasts to more effectively serve the needs of industry and government. Encouraging the conservation and preservation of Australia’s unique natural and cultural heritage policy can be a success if only the Ministry of Tourism in Australia improves Australian knowledge of Australia by encouraging domestic travel.

A healthy tourism sector contributes to the economic and social well being of Australians. Major policy challenges for the future include coordination of all levels of government working towards an agreed framework between the various levels of government on the national coordination of tourism development will assist in clarifying the roles and responsibilities between the different levels of government.

Many councils, states or counties as a whole has understood the positive impacts of tourism economically, this sector pours a big share in the country’s economy, if analyzed, planned, chosen. Formulated and implemented strategically. There are many unfortunate countries that have not identified tourism as a sector. For this reason there is no establishment or body to look after and run this sector.

Tourists have been travelling for centuries, sometimes just to relax, to have leisure time,underwent recreational activities, for attending conferences and seminars; and to meet friends and relatives. Gradually, the concept became wider when the tourists started taking interest in the history and culture of the destination like Egypt- Pyramids. Having realizedby the authorities that tourists take good interest in their heritage and history, this led the country to maintain their cultural places, events and festivals to exhibit to the tourists. Therefore new trend of cultural tourism emerged.

Cultural tourism is a genre of specific interest tourism based on the search for and participation in new and deep cultural experience, whether aesthetic, intellectual, emotional or psychological. (Stebbins 1996) It makes the countries to market its rich and diverse cultural events to its local population and tourists alike.

Boarding participation in the arts, increasing opportunities for arts, preserving and promoting cultural resources and investing in community’s quality of life are among the reasons. State arts agencies are key players in supporting and leading cultural tourism initiatives. For this reason successful projects need to undergo with collaboration, assessment, research, marketing and visitor services. This development of successful strategies will link the arts and tourism in communities.

Tourism can present both advantages and problems. On the positive side, the preservation of heritage history and culture will attract the number of tourists and bring prosperity. At the same time maintenance of these resources will be ideal for the local population as it will create familiarity and affection with ancient history and forefathers. On the other hand, from the negative perspective the issue of controlling tourism will be challenging. Mass tourism will result in to fulfill the curiosity of the tourists and the cultural amenities will be destroyed. The Great Sphinx of Egypt with Candle Holder – Poly Resin

Destination Egypt:

Egypt is a very well-known destination for cultural tourism. Ever since it was visited by “Herodotus” during the ancient time, he was surprised to see the vast differences between Egypt and his homeland. This image has been maintained throughout the middle and modern history.

The discovery of Pharaonic antiquities long time ago has added a special charm to Egypt, beside its unique religious and cultural monuments. Egypt enjoys various fields of tourism, the most important are, archaeological or cultural tourism as one of the oldest types of tourism in Egypt, where the ancient civilizations are visible to the naked eye, an incarnation of the nation that constructed these civilizations since the dawn of history. Despite the multiple types of tourism and Egypt’s cultural tourism remains the unrepeated unique and non-competitive component of tourism as Egypt possesses one third of the world’s known monuments. The Great Sphinx at Giza in Egypt

Therefore, historically speaking tourism has been a key ingredient in Egypt’s economy for about the last 200 years. However, over the last generation, tourism has become an essential component of the economy and is now the source of 45% of the country’s annual foreign currency earnings.

Impacts of tourism:

Until recently, growth in tourism was thought achievable without imposing any negative impact on Egypt’s cultural heritage resources. It used to be considering as non-consumable industry and a great tool to country’s development strategy. Similarly, it was regarded as a vital element to Egypt’s economy. But the constant research about the sector revealed that tourism consumes resources of the host nation, not just natural and man-made resources, but cultural ones, too. Cultural resources are finite and have to be managed like any other scarce resource.

Positive impactsof tourism:

The rise of tourism can lead the local population of Egypt to learn good things from diverse culture. This can open the door to many opportunities. For example Egyptians speaking Arabic, will come in the interaction of Asian, European, American tourists, this can influence them with their language and may lead to learn it. So that they can communicate with the tourists such a desire can make the establishments or centers to offer courses based on the languages. This can further import the native expertise and give many choices to the learners.

Worldwide profile:

It is the heritage of Egypt that has made it worldwide known destination. Many European and American tourists show their urge to visit the destination and see the pyramids from their eyes. The culture and heritage rich destination – Egypt is taught in colleges and other vocational courses. This treasure of heritage and culture has made Egypt very important.

Restoration and conservation:

The heritage of Egypt is consistently restored and conserve. Conservation department is devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage for the future. It includes examination, documentation, treatment and preventive care of the historic treasure. Since it is being protected by the country for tourists, thereforeit is also greatly used by the local population. The nation knows about their ancient history which is alive in them after centuries through the preservation and maintenance of these objects.

Social cohesion:

It describes the bond or glue that brings the people of Egypt together in society, particularly in the context of cultural diversity. These cultural heritage and history bring them closer, united and signs their mutuality. Such a practice passes on from one generation to another and Egyptians take pride to be the part of world class ancient history.

General development of infrastructure:

Access to the cultural heritage site is just not possible for tourists with effective and modern infrastructure. People on holidays, curious for learning and view would like to save their energy to tour around to fulfill their purpose of tourism. This modern means of infrastructure will then are used by the locals and make their life easier too. Not only has this but such advancement queued up the country to earn title of a developed country.

Negative impacts of tourism:
Mass tourism:

The interesting history of the Egypt has led the destination to deal with mass tourism. This form of tourism was unable to responsibly control and had ruined the area of natural beauty. It has also polluted the beaches and destroyed the habitats of wild as roads and hotels are built. Therefore such a loss and damage to such resources and infrastructure had reduced numbers of visitors. The air travel, sources of mass tourism is a major cause of global warming.

Culture and tradition sensibility:

Large number of tourists has undermined traditional beliefs, values, and customs and in particular risk commercializing the very culture Egyptians is proud of. Many incidents of their insensitivity to local population and tradition have caused great offence, for example the indecent dressing, indecent behavior etc.

Reliance on tourism:

Mass tourism ruins the environment of the destination. The incidents in past where the Egypt heritage and cultural threats emerged alarmed the local authorities to limit the tourism. It was felt that nature conservation, park management, red sea tourism need to be sustained. These authorities are now playing to implement such measures that will not destroy their treasure of history and also welcome the tourist to view and admire their ancient history.

Regardless of the economic benefits tourism brings, it is very significant for the Egyptian tourist’s board to balance the requirements of locals and facilities tourists need. For example the sightseeing in Luxor, where the valley of the King’s is the site where the Pharoah’s underground tombs have been constructed, and tomb of Tutankhamun, Rames III and IV etc. are the most visited sites. These sites in particular suffer from pollution, damage and other negative effects greatly. In short, the civilization of Egypt was in extreme danger, until the government decided to be equipped with some meaningful strategy to deal with the issue.

At the same time, the influence of the European tourists industry has really motivated the government to choose the direction where the economical merits of the industry will be enjoyed but not at the risk of losing the traditions, values, monuments and other physical amenities.

For this reason, effective destination planning must define the level of acceptable tourism development in Egypt and provide control to maintain that level.

Pollution:

Mass tourism always hooks up with pollution that is destruction to its environment, physical amenities, natural resources etc. therefore, the pollution controls should be built into all forms of infrastructure. In this regard, educational programmers should assist and invite tourist to respect and understand the local way of life, culture, history and religion. The Egyptian tourism policy should think on these lines that tourists need not to cross border line to negatively influence the local civilization, traditions, values and beliefs.

Disney-fication:

It means the transformation of something, usually society at large. Luxor is known for its Disney-fication as city officials approved a controversial plan to excavate an ancient processional route and develop it as a key tourist attraction. Buried in soil for centuries, the 2.7 kilometer “Avenue of Sphinxes” once connected the temples of Luxor and Karnak in what was then ancient city of Thebes.

Such crucial impacts of culture and heritage have forced the low income families to lose their homes where water and electricity was cut off past few months ago.

Government policies:

The development of cultural and heritage sites on the price of influencing the local population living or houses should not be the practice of the ministry tourism in Egypt. Such a project should not be planned and implemented.

When there is no source of reliable compensation schemes. The director of Luxor antiques Mansour Boraik believed uncoiling the avenue of Sphinxes was their dream, since it was the longest and biggest religious route ever built in the ancient world. Therefore many houses have demolished already.

Regardless of the economic positive impacts that tourism carries, such a move by the government will increase the hostility of the local population against tourists.

Reconstruction and restoration of cultural sites:

Every year the government of Egypt spends billions of pounds to maintain and reconstruct the ancient architecture and monuments. Such a big budget of economy is invested on these sectors whereas; there is a need to pour handsome investment in other sectors like sports, education, health and industry. Just like many touristic islands and destination, the complete reliance ondevelopment of tourism sector only can cause many disasters and the country’s economy can face a big collapse.

Local population belief:

Since tourist mingle up with local population from diverse background with different lifestyles, religions, languages, values, beliefs, practices etc. Therefore, it is quite likely that host population will start getting fascinated with unique practices and thus follow them. For example, Egypt is an Islamic country and the local dress code is completely different than European tourists. Local people might get influence from European tourists and start following their dress code.

Security measures:

Tourism industry brings the people of all beliefs and religions together into the destination. Egypt had recently become a target land for terrorism. People from their home country fly to Egypt to satisfy their thirst of viewing historical places and learn about the ancient history. But unfortunately, destination has become marked by terrorist to kill foreigners. For this reason, new measures of security are needed to be implanted to make sure that just like local people, tourist feel the same safety and security, this might need a heavy budget on security and safety equipment. Failure to achieve the best means of security can spread a very negative reputation all around, which can drastically influence the number of tourists in future.

Tourism planning policies and infrastructure:
The Egypt tourist authority:

The tourism industry being the largest in the Egypt needs to undergo very effective destination planning. The planning should enable the policy makers to understand the linkages between tourism and each of the economic sectors so that optional planning and management strategies can be implemented for the destination.

The lucrative economic benefits of tourism are of course not ignorable but at the same time the utilization of natural, man-made, cultural and heritage resources of Egypt should not be misused. In past the policy makers were ignorant about this fact. Since tourism is generating a big share of income for Egypt’s economy for two centuries. But now is the time to understand the world phenomenon that tourism has increasingly important socioeconomic and cultural impact. So the heritage, nature, and culture have to be protected. Egypt has experienced many red signals that reflect the concern about controlling or limiting tourism.

At the end of the 1980s, Egypt’s government took the decision to develop tourism, when other sources of rent income were in crisis and the government was in danger of being destabilized. Since then, tourism has been a great success story in Egypt and contributes substantially to the economic development of the country. The tremendously increasing tourism revenues have significantly contributed to the stabilization of the political system.

Progressive sustainable tourism program is the initiative of ministry of tourism of Egypt to put environmental protection and conservation at the top of Egypt’s tourism development agenda in current as well as future tourism development plans.

Being an undisputed gateway to one of the world’s fastest growing tourism markets, and with 200,000 hotel rooms planed over 15 years, Egypt has realized one of the world’s largest tourism development plans. Associated with this rapid growth are the international popularity of its natural environment and the potential threat of degradation to both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Many conferences have been organized by the Minister of Tourism, Dr.Mamdouh El-Beltaugi, about Egypt’s Red Sea Sustainable Tourism Initiative.

Sustainable tourism which is an effective development philosophy can advance environmental conservation and promote the sustainable use of natural resources, and a catalyst for economic and local community development in Egypt.

For example, over 1.2 million tourists visit the Red Sea coast annually, bringing in over $1.2 billion in foreign exchange and generating more than 275,000 jobs. The Red Sea has become one of Egypt’s premier tourism destinations, based in large part on its unique and fragile marine environment. In recent years, however, tourism development has come increasingly into conflict with protection and conservation of Red Sea resources.

To assure that future tourism development in the southern Red Sea preserves the environmental resources that make the area so attractive to tourists, the Egyptian government proposed development of a land use management plan identifying zones for different types and levels of development and preservation. In addition, to counteract tourism’s negative effects while still encouraging economic growth, the government proposed a program to protect designated marine and coastal areas through the establishment of nature reserves, and to build the capacity of national and local government agencies, as well as private tourism enterprises, to cope with the many challenges presented by a booming tourism industry.

Urban tourism:
Primary elements of urban tourism:
Cultural Facilities:

aˆ? Museums and Art Galleries

aˆ? Theaters and Cinemas

aˆ? Concert Halls

aˆ? Convention Centers and other Visitor Attractions

Sport Facilities:

aˆ? Indoor and Outdoor

Amusement Facilities:

aˆ? Night Clubs

aˆ? Casinos and Bingo Halls

aˆ? Organized Events

aˆ? Festivals

Physical Characteristics:

aˆ? Historical Street Pattern

aˆ? Interesting Buildings

aˆ? Ancients Monuments and Statues

aˆ? Parks and Green Areas

aˆ? Waterfronts (Harbor, Canal, River)

Socio-Cultural Features:

aˆ? Liveliness of the Place

aˆ? Language

aˆ? Local Customs and Costumes

aˆ? Cultural Heritage

aˆ? Friendliness

aˆ? Security

Secondary elements of urban tourism:

aˆ? Accommodation

aˆ? Catering Facilities

aˆ? Shopping

aˆ? Markets

Additional elements of urban tourism:

aˆ? Accessibility

aˆ? Transportation and Parking

aˆ? Tourist Information(maps, signs, guides)

Sinbad Aquapark is a beach front hotel, situated in Hurghada, Egypt. It isjust fifteen minutes from HurghadaAirport; this well-featured resort hotel includes a water park and extensive sporting facilities. Sindbad Club Aqua Park and Resort has 685 guestrooms.

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Room features Air conditioning, Bathroom with shower, Minibar, Room safe, Satellite TV, Small lounge, Telephone, Television, Windows that open Writing desk.

http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Sindbad-hotel-agua-park.jpg

Facilities at the hotel include various bars and restaurants, large swimming pool with Jacuzzi, children’s swimming pool, aqua park with water slides and wave pool, children’s club, tennis, billiards, bowling.

http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/aqua-park-Sindbad-hotel.jpg

Wellness centre with Jacuzzi, sauna, massage, medical centre, cosmetics studio and hairdresser and full entertainment programmed for adults and children.

Emerging Issues:

There are number of distinctive features tend to characterize Egypt’s urban tourism destinations, some of which could represent focal points of remedy. Such features include: The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza in Egypt

Privatization:

There is a great shift from Public sector’s development to the privatized in Egypt to maintain and offer visitors an exciting experience. Hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, transportation etc are becoming privatized which is creating a leakage in the economy. The earnings of public sector are equally distributed into the establishment of new services and sector nationally because it is meant to be spending likely. But on the contrary, privatized firms businesses benefit the individuals and specific family for what the countries remain under developed.

Convention Centers and Exhibitions:

There are significant numbers of visitors to Egypt whose primary purpose of visit is not leisure-related. As convention Centers and Exhibitions are often regarded as one of the staples of urban tourism thus at the destination of Egypt, up to forty percent of those staying overnight have come for this type of business tourism. Convention Centers and Exhibitions are perceived to be strong growth sectors in which the visitor spends an above average amount and which operate for most of the years in the Egypt. Employment, publicity, image improvement, and urban regeneration are benefits that generally justify the big financial investment for those centers. Besides these advantages, it is important to remember that the conference business cannot be separated from the rest of the tourism industry particularly because most participants are also seeking urban amenities in an exciting environment.

Infrastructure:

Substantial existing attractions and infrastructure generally developed for non-tourism purposes in Egypt. This has made the city life very congested and of course polluted. The Egyptian Tourism Authority needs to realize the importance of green tourism to be environmental friendly. Hotels have been established like the woods in a forest which also lead to noise pollution and air pollution.

Attractions:

A large number, variety and scale of primary and secondary attractions have been developed which is most of the time tourists have occupied, this lead to a jealousy and frustration in host population towards tourists. The more the disputes will take place the negative impacts will emerge which mainly will ruin the publicity of the destination. Example SINDBAD HOTEL.

Development:

Local residents are significant, often majority, users of attractions and infrastructure. These attractions utilize money, man power, land and other resources which can be used to undergo projects like Golf, school hospital bank orleisure Centre etc. In short, the approach of the government to spend on urban tourism can turn out to be a threat in future.

Distribution of the resources:

Tourism is just one of many economic activities in the city, with implications for the awareness and perceived importance of tourism issues by business, government and residents. The competition for resources within cities like Luxor, Alexanderia, and Cairo also has implications for the provision of visitor services, and the cost and availability of land and labor.

Strategic planning of the destination:

The involvement of a multiplicity of public and commercial organizations with varying levels of interest in tourism, which has implications for the complexity of planning and policy-making processes, day-to-day operational management, and the coherence of marketing activity.

At the same time, many things have not changed. The Egyptians remain a very hospitable people who truly seem to love sharing their glorious past with visitors. They are a warm people who, meeting a foreign visitor for the first time, still have a habit of inviting them home to dinner, which is usually made into a feast of sorts.

So as we head into the middle of the first decade of the 21st Century, we find an Egypt that is more than ever ready to accept modern western tourists, perhaps as never before. New and sometimes very luxurious hotels are springing up everywhere to accommodate them, and younger, savvier tour operators are planning wonderful and exciting ways to entertain and engage tourists. Egypt is a land of enchantment and mystery, and now is the best time ever to experience the Mother of the World

Mass tourism VS Sustainable tourism:http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTQpcTdij9YrlMdAj3PoyDm7LgA0EFTXAA6JA55EuW4wgTamGtx&t=1

The term ‘mass tourism” is problematic to define with any precision and they claim that the term refers to the production, structure and organization of tourism akin to an industrial process whereby economies of scale are sought to meet market needs. Poon (1993) defines mass tourism as a large-scale phenomenon, packaging and selling standardized leisure services at fixed prices to a mass clientele. Further to this Fayos-Sola (1996) went as far to suggest that the operational model of mass tourism no longer suffices to achieve competitiveness in tourism enterprises and regions and he proposed that a new paradigm, the New Age of Tourism (NAT), is gathering strength owing to its ability to face to prevailing circumstances.

There are probably a hundred reasons why people visit Egypt. These days, perhaps the bulk of tourists actually come from various European countries for an inexpensive beach vacation, quite often in large groups by chartered airlines. For them, it is simply the least expensive means of taking a warm, beach vacation in a nice resort along the Red Sea coast of Egypt or in the Sinai. Many of these vacations are arranged by large European operations that use mass tourism to arrange considerable hotel space at very inexpensive rates.

More lucrative to the Egyptians, and certainly a major source of tourism to Egypt, are the classical tourists, who come to Egypt specifically to visit the ancient monuments. Beach goers may also arrange classical tours as extensions of their holidays, but normal classical tourists will usually follow a much defined route, from Cairo along the Nile Valley down to Aswan, though they may also opt for various extensions, including a brief visit to one of the beaches.

Sustainable tourism in Egypt:

Egypt national tourist strategic planhttp://www.mga-ai.it/images/480/Egypt2_480.jpg

After the disastrous effects of Mass Tourism Egypt is looking into the possibilities for diversifying its tourism opportunities throughout the country. The main target for expanding the tourism sector is nature-based tourism. The coral reefs and rich marine life in South Sinai and the Red Sea coast have made these two areas among the premier scuba diving destinations in the world. Many beach resorts are now in operation and there are still hundreds to be constructed. However, previous tourism development in Egypt has resulted in a series of negative environmental impacts. The ambitious development plans to receive 16 million tourists by 2017 should take into consideration sustainability concepts. The government and developers have significant roles to play in adopting and implementing environmentally sound policies and practices to avoid the degradation of the natural heritage of Egypt for the sake of the current as well as future generations.

“Egypt in 21st Century” plan is prepared by the cabinet of the Egyptian Government in 1997,and it lays out the long-term national development plan in the beginning century. Tourismwas positioned as one of major leading industries in the strategy.Following are the tourism development strategies in the 21th century:

To increase the number of visitor arrivals to 27 million by the year 2017

To extend length of stay from 7 days in 1997 to 9 days by the year 2017, and to increase total bed nightsfrom 26 million in 1997 to 230 million by 2017

To raise the accommodation capacity to 618 thousand rooms by the year 2017

To focus on tourism development projects in South Egypt

To formulate integrated development programs for new tourist areas

To establish new tourist camp sites for safaris in the middle of Sinai and in Wadi El Gemal of Red Sea

To preserve the ancient Egyptian civilization

To supply new sites for tourism development with all the required facilities like in the Red Sea, Sinai, theNew Valley, Luxor and Aswan.

The impact of tourism on the Egyptian society is significant. Direct economic benefits of tourisminclude generation of employment, increase of foreign exchange earnings, incomegeneration and contribution to government revenues These benefits are the main source of income to strengthen the other sectors of Egypt greatly. Tourism also provides indirectimpacts on the economic sectors, such as agriculture, fisheries, handicraft manufacturingand construction, which supply the goods and services for tourism sector. Furthermore, the improvement of transportation and other infrastructure facilities andservices encourage the economic and culture development of the community in theregional area.

Conclusion:

The Egyptian national tourism sector marketing strategy emphasizes on quality, and aimsto foster and encourage high-quality tourism services at competitive prices. Since 1982,Egypt has developed a new strategy aiming to increase the number of tourists visitingEgypt. The plan was, and still is, to boost tourism demand by attracting visitors beyondthe main tourism incoming markets, namely visitors from the European Community, USA, Canada and the Arab countries and target new potential markets. Thepredominant new markets Egypt must aim to attract are: Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, EasternEurope, and Southern and Latin America. Up till now the Egyptian tourism sector has notachieved the desired travel movement from Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia and Malaysia. Egypt

Scandinavia and Eastern Europe countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Russia, they only yielded a total of 600 000 tourists compared to 3 274 377 tourists from both western and southern Europe (Papadopoulos, 2003). The main customers are the Germans followed by Italians, Russians, English, French and Saudi Arabians. Egypt mustpromoted through advertising campaigns in the mass media, participation and attendance in various exhibitions and the continuous renewal of advertising material.

Egyptian organizations need to participate in all major international events, while tourist planners have developed for the demanding tourist, cultural and athletic activities reinforcing Egypt as a tourist destination and attracting people interested in these events. There is also a great need to protect Egypt’s unique desert and its environment and heritage resources. Sustainable development and preservation ofEgypt’s natural resources should be the pillars of the Egyptian tourism plans. The primary concern is to protect the environment by limiting tourism projects in natural reserves. Generally, tourism properties, hard buildings, are only allowed in 12.5% of the land. In recognition of the country’s potential for tourism, high standards of tourism services quality are strictly enforced and green marketing orientation need to be adopted within all tourism marketing activities.

The budget allocated to promote Egypt as a macro-tourist destination abroad is about $50 million a year. Almost 90% of the promotion budget is spent on promotion campaigns through direct media such as the press, TV, billboards, movie and public transport advertisements. The remaining 10% goes to the international network of tourist offices. The Egyptian Tourism Authority (ETA) must focus its promotion activities on the European tourist market, which is considered the main market segment, as it provides about 65% of the inbound tourists coming to Egypt.

ETA promotion policies should also take into consideration the changes that took place in Europe, as there are ten countries that have recently joined the European Union and they are mainly from the Eastern bloc. The ETAhas to look closely at these new potential tourist markets. The Arab tourist market constitutes the second major region sending tourists to Egypt, about 16% of the total number of travelers, and there is a need to design a new strategy that offers the Arab tourist market’s requirements.

Egypt has to highlight its focus of marketing campaign to attract not only culturaltourists, but also to highlight the Red Sea Resorts, with their beaches, diving activitiesand the environmental tourism facilities, taking the sustainability requirements intoconsideration (El-Khadem, 2004; Ministry of Tourism, 2004).

The tourism industry is highly known as the worlds fastest growing industries and the economic importance has captured most of developing countries in the world. Due the globalization, rapid development of advance technology, and the eased of affordability to travel today, make more people possible to travel outside their countries. The World Tourism Organization (1999) reports that international tourism receipts grew by an average annual rate of 9% between the years of 1988-1997. Even the number for international tourist arrivals has reached more than 664 million in 1999. Tourism has become very significant to countries all over the world as for decades the industry has been a major contributor to a country’s economic growth and development, it generates significant revenues, creates millions of job opportunities in small or large communities, support communities and helps maintain and improve important national assets that assist the country to develop.

However, in order for tourism to have sustainable growth and development and generate substantial economic and social benefits to an area, tourism planning approaches are required by the host government that begin to realized tourism is the most important main key driver to economics’ growth which not only bring profits to the industry itself but to other business sectors that serve the tourism industry such as transportation industry (airlines), hospitality, and the services industry. Therefore tourism must be developed and managed in an integrated, controlled and sustainable manner. Tourism which is being planned and managed well will help the countries to continually increase their economic benefits without damaging the environment or create serious social problems, tourism resources also will be conserved for continuous use in the future. While on the other hand, in some countries where tourism has not been well planned and managed, it could bring about short term economic benefits and in the long term perhaps it could have caused some environmental and socio-cultural issues and results in the poor quality of tourist destinations. So it is important to consider tourism as part of economic, physical, environmental, and social planning and ensuring that the tourism industry can thrive and develop by trying to maximize all these valuable aspects and to develop comprehensive and better tourism plan for development at a community or region.

Therefore, this paper will be mainly discussing about the five different approaches to tourism planning in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. This paper will also discuss about the main issues and challenges that tourism planners may face in the planning process, and the main steps to be taken to help the local government and communities in the tourism planning in the destination region of the Central Highlands of the Island.

2.0 Critical review of approaches to tourism planning

As we know that tourism allows the creation of huge economic benefits to the country, yet it hasn’t take into account all the broader perspective, that tourism needs to be sustainable and provide various environmental benefits and impacts in the development. This means that tourism must aim to encourage both economic and environmentally sustainable development in such a way that developments are able to meet the present and long term needs of the people, tourists, and locals at the same time, also ensuring the physical and cultural environment is highly capable of sustaining this use. Thus, governments must provide directions and initiatives to develop specific and appropriate tourism planning which would involve various different tourism planning approaches that will help better the development of tourism in a destination and to benefit all people that are involved in the industry.

There are four different approaches of tourism planning at the destination level can be recognized according to the values that support the planning or policy activity include boosterism, economic, physical/spatial, and community-oriented that emphasizes the role the destination community plays in the tourism development and experience (Getz, 1986). Then to these four approaches, there is an additional approach of sustainable planning (Hall, 1998). Each of this tourism planning plays a different role in the tourism planning and has its own strengths and weaknesses. The following describes the strengths and weaknesses for each approach.

2.1 Boosterism

Boosterism is one of the tourism planning approaches that has views on tourism development which is believed to be inherently ‘good’ and will provide benefit to the host destination. This approach also characterized as being part of an attitude to the development of ‘growth’ is good and thus any negative impact of tourism development will be dominated by positive benefits. From this approach perspective the primary planning problem is one of how to attract as many people as possible to a given location or destination. Boosterism approach however, doesn’t take into account or involves their host community in the decision making process, planning and policy process surrounding the tourism developments (Hall and Cooper, 2008). Yet it is still being adopted by governments and politicians to promote tourism growth, regional economic diversification and employment creation.

According to Hall and Page (1999) states that boosterism attitude approach towards tourism development is seen as to give benefits to the host destination and community which can bring higher living standards to a destination and improves quality of life of the people especially in the developing countries. Tourism development could improve the quality of life, as it supports the creation of community facilities and services, through the provision of better or upgraded infrastructure, facilities, services, transport, health, better quality of commodities and food. The indirect benefit of tourism development will also increase job opportunities towards the whole community and at the same time boost up the country’s economy.

However under this approach little consideration is given to the potential negative economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism. The cultural and natural resources are regarded as objects to be exploited for the purpose of tourism development. Thus, in many ways boosterism could be described as a form of non-planning and has had a marked impression on the economic and physical landscape. Due to this approach does not involved residents of the tourist destinations in the decision making and planning processes surrounding tourism development could be regarded as unpatriotic and excessively negative in which it result in the lacking of public or community participation in the local tourism development (Hall, 2008). The tourism development will also tends to benefit more on the government instead of the local community because the community has no power to make their own decisions in the tourism planning and therefore it will not encourage them to participate and does not allow them to share tourism benefits with the wider community.

2.2 Economic

The second approach of tourism planning is the economic (industry-oriented) approach. It is an approach that aims to promote economic growth and development in a destination, and take into account all the use of marketing and promotion efforts to attract as many visitors to visit the destination. This economic approach focuses more on the economic impacts of tourism and the most efficient and effective use of tourism to create income and employment benefits for the regions, communities, and country as a whole (Hall, 2008). The main strengths of this planning approach are as it is mainly focuses on the economic impacts of tourism, it believes that tourism development is becomes a key driver of economic growth or will boost the country’s economy through the creation of employment, generation of foreign exchange earnings, contribution of government revenues, stimulation or improvement of infrastructure investment, and then create contribution to the local economy. Yet there are some weaknesses to this approach as it doesn’t take into account environmental concerns and social issues which means there is limited attention given towards the environmental and social impacts brought about by tourism. These various environmental and socio-cultural impacts of tourism could negatively affect the local community and threatened them to move away from the destination due to the result of large amount of tourists’ arrivals, and they will likely to feel irritate and uncomfortable towards the tourists because they are entering the private spaces of local people (Hall and Cooper, 2008).

2.3 Physical/Spatial

Based on Hall and Cooper (2008), the physical/ spatial approach to tourism planning considers tourism as a form of land use to be managed using spatial or ecological base components that are required for tourism development and to be based upon certain spatial patterns, capacities or thresholds that would minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the physical environment. While the main point of this approach is to control and maintain the capacities, land use and the number of physical infrastructure being built for tourism, so it won’t exceeds the environmental and social carrying capacities of the destination. As a result, it will help to minimize the negative environmental impacts resulting from tourism development.

A well planned physical destination with well structured design and layout would also attract visitors to visit a destination as it can provide a good and open space for tourists. There are will also be an increase in the protection towards the environment due to the less land being use and it will keep the sustainability of tourism as well as result of higher satisfaction from both tourists and communities. The weakness of this approach is that if the number of infrastructure, buildings, and capacities are being controlled, economically the destination unable to maximize their profit and perhaps also unable to fulfill the high demand of tourism to build more attractions. Lastly, limited attention is also given to social and cultural attributes of the destination (Hall, 2008).

2.4 Community

Community tourism planning approach has an emphasis on the social and political context within which tourism occurs and it supports greater local community control over the development process. Under this approach, community is considered as the focal point or actor that encourages the development process of the tourism and seeks for public participation in a destination in order to enhance their economic livelihoods while protecting their cultural values, and preserving the natural environment (Hall and Page, 1999).

Based on Tosun (1999), Community planning approach which implies a high degree of public participation in tourism planning process, highly involved the community in the decision making and planning process, as well as in the sharing of tourism benefits and in the sharing of tourism profits with the wider community. Therefore, the main strengths of this community based approach in terms of its benefits, will likely to create and increased employment opportunities available to the locals as more community being involved in the process while it also contributes positively in the improvement on household income and general quality of life through the extent of contribution vary from one aspect to another. Moreover, public participation is also to design tourism development in such a way that it is intended to benefit the local community and to encourage them to participate in their own development through mobilizing their own resources, defining their needs and making own decisions about how to achieve them. Then if the government is being supportive and let the community to take a large part of the decision making for tourism, there will less conflict arises between the government and community, and if problem arises the community would be able to make decisions and solve it on their own. Bringing educational elements towards the whole community is also one of the strength of this approach. The locals likely to be educated and trained in order to improve their knowledge about tourism and as a results it will help them to recognize and conserve their local culture, natural resource values, and creating a good image about the destination. Tourists who come from different parts of the world will also encourage the locals to interact and provide cultural exchange between hosts and tourists, at the same time it also gives the opportunities for the locals to learn foreign language and lead to a better understanding of cultural differences and build tolerant attitude towards foreigners.

On the other hand Tosun also emphasizes on the weaknesses of this approach in terms of the barriers or the difficulties in implementing a community approach to tourism planning in tourist destination. The major difficulties or barriers to incorporating public participation in tourism planning can include the lack of financial and human resources in the tourism sector especially in the developing country. Resources at the local level may not enough to finance the present scale of tourism development and therefore it will lead to discourage community participation in the tourism planning. The public could also have the difficulty in understanding complex and technical planning issues, not always aware the decision making process, and the difficulty in maintaining representativeness in the decision making process due to the lack of knowledge, experiences and possible conflicts that may arise between cultures. In addition, there is also need for the government to be able to manage the involvement of the community that aims to achieve the desired result however it does not give the impression to the community of being control by the government. Power should also be distributed evenly within a community so that some groups or individuals will not have the ability exert greater influence over the planning process than others.

2.5 Sustainable

The sustainable approach towards tourism is an integrative form of tourism planning which brings together economic, environmental (physical/spatial), and socio-cultural (community) planning methods. This approach seeks to provide lasting and secure livelihoods which minimize depletion of resources, environmental degradation, cultural disturbance and social instability (Hall and Page, 1999).

According to Hall (2008), sustainable approach are include long term protection of environment resources since it focuses on tourism development which try to avoids damage on the environment, economy, and cultures of a tourist destination as well as provides positive experience for host communities, tourism industries and the tourists themselves. As a result of these, it will also lead to the preservation of essential ecological processes, give beneficial and opportunities for future generation ability to meet the present and long term use of resources, protection of human heritage and biodiversity, improve economic benefits to support sustainable tourism, and it also benefit the communities by providing more employment and the improvement their standards of living. However, overprotecting the resources will result that the tourists unable to enjoy or being satisfied with the overall tourism experiences, for instance tourists might have high expectation when they travel to the tourism site, yet they are not allowed to connect to the environment thus their perception will be lower because it doesn’t meet their high expectation, and become very unsatisfied. Besides, by adopting sustainable tourism approach could also create conflict between public and private sectors in terms of having different views and perspective on sustainable planning. Public sector might want to save and maintain the environment while private sector wants to gain more economic benefit in having less concern on sustainable tourism benefits. Sustainable tourism approach could also be difficult to achieve and has been often criticized for its contradictory goals that never achieved, as it requires cooperation and coordination between industry and the manager of destinations, and the needs to build consumer and producer awareness.

3.0 A review of the main issues or challenges that tourism planners face

As millions more people travel and to seek for personal rewards from their experiences, the massive development of tourism resources is the consequences (Gunn, 2002). The various activities that tourists engage in a tourism destination are important in the development aspect of the tourist industry in which it creates huge growth for tourism in a destination and provides tourism benefits in many ways. Thus, development of tourism is necessary to be plan by the government and the tourism industry which it is involve in order being able to achieve the desired goals of development, bring positive return and benefits to the region and community as a whole. However, there are several main issues or challenges in the tourism industry that planners might need to face. Tourism is such a very broad industry and complex which it is difficult to be directed towards on specific desirable goals and objectives. In addition, the rapid growth of tourism and its complexity even makes it even more difficult for planners or destination management to apply the most basic research findings and build recommendation to improve tourism planning. Hence, the main challenge today for both researchers and practitioners is that they should be able to concentrate on the key issues and predict new prospects and opportunities in the tourism, as well as to look for new research on critical issues and time reduction for research and tourism application.

Based on Claire A. Gunn in the article, Prospects for Tourism Planning: Issues and Concerns (2004), it is being discussed some of the main today’s key issues in the field of tourism planning, which regardless of the significant grows over many decades, the issues of tourism planning should be addressed by practitioners and researchers if tourism aim to directed toward desirable modern goals. Even if there are different goals and objectives being achieved by large and diverse number of individuals, several goals are being emerged under the umbrella concept of tourism. Besides, the more traditional goal of increased economy are being added goals to improved visitor satisfactions, better community life integration, and leads to even better and greater environmental protection. The following issues are stemmed from insufficient education and understanding of tourism’s great complexity and can be resolved by new search and planning.

Another issues being emphasized by Gunn regarding to tourism planning is the poor organizational integration among the public and private sectors being involved in serving the tourism industry. In the business private sectors there are hotel, restaurant, travel agency, attraction, and airline associations who need to cooperate together in order to make the tourism industry work. Then in the public sectors agencies members may include of water supply, departments of commerce, transportation land management, park and recreation associations. Gun (1977) described the fragmentation in the tourism industry which leads to the difficulties in coordinating public and private sector interests as well as commercial and conservation oriented involvement in tourism development. Besides, they also seldom communicate with one another though their policies and actions impose on tourism. Lacking is can be any organizational mechanism that is concerned over tourism in it’s entirely. Despite their titled as tourism organizations, convention, visitors’ bureaus, and state agencies, their primarily focused is on promotion and often exclude any influence on research or planning. Negative impacts of tourism growth including economic, social, and environmental are usually outside their agendas. Thus, there is a need for better and improvement in communication among existing tourist organizations to gain mutual benefit and understanding related to tourism development. For instance; due to parks are such visitor magnet, the organizations need to expand their agendas to communicate with other several tourist organizations such as for advertising, public relations, and the tourist business sector.

Furthermore, other potential problem that likely being faced by planners, decision makers, and investor in tourism destination areas is the lack of theories and models about the ways in which such areas are develop and change. Tourism is considered as very dynamic and destination areas will always constantly changing in order to meet the demand for new market needs. Thus, in the development process of trying to meet these demands, it is often takes place which is not compatible with the long term goals of residents or visitors. While there is also lack of approaches and frameworks for destination planners and decision makers to refer to and so it will be extremely difficult role for them to understand each of the specific development in the overall system and it is likely effects on their area and its appeal (Butler and Waldbrook, 2003). Thereby, these issues must be taken seriously which are needed to develop continuous theories and models which help planners and decision makers to create better improvement of tourism marketing for the destination.

4.0 Overall Framework
4.1 The Central Highlands of the Island

The Central Highlands of the Island is the chosen destination region to develop tourism planning to encourage and build tourism development in the destination. It is an Island which is located in the Eastern Mediterranean Ocean with total area of 4,400 sq km, consisting of 3 islands but only the main Island is inhabited. As a developing country, it is quite well known for its tourist destination. Despite the area still have very little development on tourism and faced a number of challenges including limited infrastructure, a depressed economy, and some environmental problems, yet there is still an established tourism sector on the coast and a number of potential tourist attractions in the area.

With estimate population of 401,880 and having the majority of ‘Islandese’ and two unique ethnic groups as the main population, the island is highly depend on tourism as their key economic driver and to generate revenue for the country. The services sector also has the largest percentage of 64% compared to the agriculture and industry sector. However, the destination currently still experiencing quite a lot of problems and limitations to be able to managed and deal with tourism. Based on the whole country details, there is a limited of natural resources (fresh water and electricity), supply of accommodation, infrastructure which only main roads are paved and some area is still not well built, and there are some environmental problems as well include water pollution. The limited resources and accommodation in the destination will tend hold back the development of tourism in the area which means the area is lack of opportunities to grow. In addition, most of the local people in the Island also have low levels of literacy rate, languages and the limited education which can discourage their participation in the tourism development as it will be really difficult for the community to interact with the tourists and since they don’t have any basic knowledge about tourism either.

Therefore, there is a need for tourism planning in the Central Highlands of the Island by developing a comprehensive and appropriate regional based planning process. And it is required for the Island to use the different approaches of tourism planning to design of all tourism development as to generate economic, social, and environmental benefits to the community. Importantly, the government should also need to encourage public participation in the tourism planning process to help support and build knowledge within the community in the Island at the same giving the opportunities to participate in their own development.

4.2 Steps to be taken in the Planning Process

Tourism planning is a process of identifying goals and objectives that want to be achieved by matching available resources and programs with the needs and wants of people, and then defining the methods of how to achieve them. It also takes a proactive role in assisting and promoting the implementation of a good quality development of tourism in the destination. Comprehensive and appropriate tourism planning requires systematic approach which usually involves a series of steps (Stynes and O’Halloran, 1987). The following section will discuss and identify the main actions to be taken in each steps of the planning process (Figure 1.0) that required for developing effective tourism plan and strategies in the Central Highlands of the Island and to help the Island to build and develop strong tourism destination.

Step 1: Identifying goals for The Central Highlands of the Island (Recommendations)

To manage tourism in the Central Highlands of the Island on the principles of sustainable development.

As the island experienced a depressed economy, it is aim to improve and boost their economy through the creation of jobs.

To improve the number of infrastructures and accommodations in a way to attract more tourists coming to the destination and ability to serve the needs of tourists.

To maintain and conserve environmental and socio-cultural resources of the Island.

To increase tourism earnings and achieve fair distribution of income.

Step 2: Potentiality Analysis

Role of tourism in the area’s economy:

To increase the economic development in the area.

Contributes to the country’s GDP.

Major source of foreign exchange earnings and contribution to government revenues.

Creation of job opportunities and contribution to local economies which may help to improve their quality of life and standards of living.

Stimulation of infrastructure investment

Broad Market trends:

Origin of International visitors ? Greece, Italy, United Kingdom, North & West Europe, and North America (the majority).

Average age of International visitors: 49

Average number of International nights : 5.6 nights

Average daily expenditures: USD$68

Visitors interest and needs:

To visit archaeological sites.

To see and enjoy the high scenery attractions.

To enjoy the authentic food, cultural heritage, and ethnic groups.

To visit and experience the natural forest and local architecture.

Tourism Assets:

Major Resources:

Productive labor force.

Climate and scenery.

Limited water resources and few domestic energy.

Oil.

Agricultural products.

Produces 80% of its food needs.

Tourist Attraction:

Natural Forest.

Local architecture.

Archaeological sites.

High scenic values.

Cultural heritage and unique ethnic groups.

Ethnic restaurants

Facilities and Service:

Hotels/ Hostels/resorts/ serviced apartments/ farmstay.

Roads.

Strengths & Weakness of the Central Highlands of the Island

Strengths:

Little development of tourism which result in minimal negative impacts and substantial remaining natural forest and local architecture.

Strong cultural heritage and unique ethnic groups.

Good ethnic restaurants.

Good supplies of locally produced food and wine.

High scenic values.

Favorable geographic location for shipping trade.

Productive labor forces or human resources.

Easy to access from the coast.

Weaknesses:

Limited supply of accommodation and infrastructure (only main roads are paved).

Limited water and electricity.

Ethnics groups are distrustful of strangers and highly competitive with each other for government support and development options.

Low levels of literacy and limited educational background.

Low levels of languages other than regional dialects.

Environmental problems of water pollution near oil refineries.

High employment rate and poverty.

Step 3: Market Analysis

Identifying market segments, characteristics and needs.

Major product gaps.

Market position: The Central Highlands of the Island is positively mythic and naturally appeal which it offers an unforgettable cultural experience for individual to discover the strong cultural heritage and unique ethnic groups of the destination.

Step 4: Scenarios

The preliminary values that community hold and wish to be conserved and enhanced ? the locals’ strong cultural heritage and ethnic groups.

The alternative future tourism scenarios (scenario is examined in term of implications of growth, a preferred or desirable future for tourism, the constraints) to establish specific objectives and strategies.

Step 5: Consultations

Consultations with key organizations (tourism industry and government tourism bodies) and the local community through interviews and workshops.

Step 6: Detailed Assessment for Economic and Environmental sustainability

Economic sustainability (natural and built resources):

Climate and scenery for tourism.

Oil

Agricultural products

Environmental sustainability (landscape values)

Step 7: Infrastructure report

Attract potential foreign investors to build attractions and hotels accommodation for tourists at the same time it creates more and better jobs for community.

Encourage government investments to plan and properly manage infrastructure in the Island for better management of visitors’ impacts, as well as to improve the knowledge and skills of the locals to be able to handle tourism matters.

Apply of government policies using rules, regulations, permits, and zonings to control and maintain the number of physical infrastructure being built, and help to preserve the local resources.

Step 8: Implementation strategy
Specification of implementation mechanisms:

Programme of work:

Conduct a detailed research about the type of potential foreign investors who are willing to develop their business in the Island.

Make a draft plan on the management of infrastructure that going to be implemented by the government for the Island.

Set out regulations, laws, rules, and zoning for the areas.

Improve the quality of educational programs and industry in the Island, as well as provides tourism training for the locals to prepare and able them to serve the tourists.

Organizational responsible (Different stakeholders who partake in the process): Government tourism bodies, private sector, constituted bodies including non-governmental organizations particularly those relating to tourism, environment and culture, the residents of the Island, and foreign investors.

Organization Responsibilities:

Government tourism bodies: to improved quality of life and overall governance. It is responsible for setting the right environment for tourism, for regulating the industry, marketing the Island as a tourism destination and for ensuring an improved tourism product, especially in publicly owned spaced.

Private sectors: aim for profitability. It is responsible for delivering a value for money tourism offer to guests, ensuring that its operations are well managed through further investment in innovativ